4 ms·

Many people (including me) raised this issue internally at Google more than a decade ago now during the Google+ era. Vic Gundotra decided that not using your "r

by cletus 4y ago

Many people (including me) raised this issue internally at Google more than a decade ago now during the Google+ era. Vic Gundotra decided that not using your "real name" was a bannable offense despite the many legitimate concerns people brought up [1]. This was of course an automatic process and there were (completely predictably) false positives. This would kill your entire Google account, Gmail included. I was one of many voices who argued that was completely stupid. The worst thing that should happen is a policy violation on a given service should terminate or suspend that service only. It should NEVER kill Gmail. Why? Because the end result is people will ultimately only use their Google account for Gmail. That's what I have done since and what I recommend everyone else do. Never tie your Google account to any other Google product. You may well regret it. It's wild to me that this is still the case. The issue isn't large enough for any executive to care. That means the decision will come down to a few stubborn individuals (probably a VP of PM) who are maintaining this position. There's nothing you can buy from the Google Store that you can't get from Best Buy or Amazon and those will be infinitely more accountable. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMqZ2PPOLik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMqZ2PPOLik

thrashh 4y ago
Google is run by people who think like robots
londons_explore 4y ago
Per-service bans seems like the obvious thing. Sure, there will be some rough edges (what when I am banned from GDrive but not Gmail, but then I click the 'save to drive' button in gmail?). Who will test that codepath? How about when i DDoS the antivirus service API? - does that mean my email will no longer be scanned? But a few rough edges for a few users seems better than a few users very unhappy and enough to become negative PR sources for life.
- GlitchMr 4y ago
  Technically Google already has per-service bans for Google Ads and YouTube. That doesn't help if you get banned for a reason unrelated to those services however.
coddle-hark 4y ago
Or just don’t use gmail. Email is way too important to me (and most people) to risk losing because an automated system thought I broke the TOS of an unrelated Google product. Even if you keep separate accounts, there’s nothing to stop them correlating those accounts and banning you anyway. Don’t use gmail as your primary email provider.
- orhmeh09 4y ago
  I agree fully. There are plenty of competitors to choose from for a service so critical, and you’ll do even better if you buy your own domain and untie your email address from your email provider.
- gus_massa 4y ago
  Most services ask for a confirmation via SMS. I have a few account in gmail (personal, work, another part of work, side project, ...). If they ban one of them, can they ban all of them?
  - rsync 4y ago
    Each nym you establish should have its own, unique, 2FA mule. Voice and sms only SIM card is only $6/mo from tello…
- hobo_mark 4y ago
  And you can still create a (free) Google Account without GMail: https://accounts.google.com/SignUpWithoutGmail https://accounts.google.com/SignUpWithoutGmail
jacquesm 4y ago
> Never tie your Google account to any other Google product. Google pretty much forces you to do so.
- capableweb 4y ago
  Yeah, either you'd get your gmail account banned because of something happened in google ads, or they ban you for having multiple accounts and trying to "circumvent their anti-abuse policy" or something. The only way to win this game is to not play it.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    Or your mail simply never arrives.
  - 0x457 4y ago
    Well, I'm banned from AdSense (when I was something like 15 y.o I used bots to farm clicks...), everything else in google ecosystem works fine, and they even send me gift cards for ad sense that I can't use.
Freebytes 4y ago
I lost the ability to use adwords. It has always been denied. I was never given a reason, and any attempt to appeal the decision were declined. I used my own email account to set up an account for a business, and the traffic may have been unusual because it was banner ads on the website of the local ISP. So, the ISP owned all of the IP addresses even though they were uniquely different people. And the office had multiple people in it so there is a chance that someone in the office may have, at some point, clicked on a banner advertisement themselves. I have no idea. I have not tried in a few years, but I was nearing the 10 year mark previously, and they still would not allow me to use adwords. I am not sure if it is a lifetime ban or what.

by cletus 4y ago

thrashh 4y ago

Google is run by people who think like robots

londons_explore 4y ago

Per-service bans seems like the obvious thing. Sure, there will be some rough edges (what when I am banned from GDrive but not Gmail, but then I click the 'save to drive' button in gmail?). Who will test that codepath? How about when i DDoS the antivirus service API? - does that mean my email will no longer be scanned? But a few rough edges for a few users seems better than a few users very unhappy and enough to become negative PR sources for life.

GlitchMr 4y ago
Technically Google already has per-service bans for Google Ads and YouTube. That doesn't help if you get banned for a reason unrelated to those services however.

coddle-hark 4y ago

Or just don’t use gmail. Email is way too important to me (and most people) to risk losing because an automated system thought I broke the TOS of an unrelated Google product. Even if you keep separate accounts, there’s nothing to stop them correlating those accounts and banning you anyway. Don’t use gmail as your primary email provider.

orhmeh09 4y ago
I agree fully. There are plenty of competitors to choose from for a service so critical, and you’ll do even better if you buy your own domain and untie your email address from your email provider.
gus_massa 4y ago
Most services ask for a confirmation via SMS. I have a few account in gmail (personal, work, another part of work, side project, ...). If they ban one of them, can they ban all of them?
- rsync 4y ago
  Each nym you establish should have its own, unique, 2FA mule. Voice and sms only SIM card is only $6/mo from tello…
hobo_mark 4y ago
And you can still create a (free) Google Account without GMail: https://accounts.google.com/SignUpWithoutGmail https://accounts.google.com/SignUpWithoutGmail

jacquesm 4y ago

> Never tie your Google account to any other Google product. Google pretty much forces you to do so.

capableweb 4y ago
Yeah, either you'd get your gmail account banned because of something happened in google ads, or they ban you for having multiple accounts and trying to "circumvent their anti-abuse policy" or something. The only way to win this game is to not play it.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  Or your mail simply never arrives.
- 0x457 4y ago
  Well, I'm banned from AdSense (when I was something like 15 y.o I used bots to farm clicks...), everything else in google ecosystem works fine, and they even send me gift cards for ad sense that I can't use.

Freebytes 4y ago

I lost the ability to use adwords. It has always been denied. I was never given a reason, and any attempt to appeal the decision were declined. I used my own email account to set up an account for a business, and the traffic may have been unusual because it was banner ads on the website of the local ISP. So, the ISP owned all of the IP addresses even though they were uniquely different people. And the office had multiple people in it so there is a chance that someone in the office may have, at some point, clicked on a banner advertisement themselves. I have no idea. I have not tried in a few years, but I was nearing the 10 year mark previously, and they still would not allow me to use adwords. I am not sure if it is a lifetime ban or what.