But it's not presenting them in search results. What you opt out of isn't search result featuring, but instead featuring on a little shaded section of the page

But it's not presenting them in search results. What you opt out of isn't search result featuring, but instead featuring on a little shaded section of the page someone else is paying for. That's money Google collects because I'm the product. And in this case, they're cashing in twice -- featuring my smiling face, using one product to sell another. That's too much. I care about other people's search experience and I want them to have less ad space on a page, not more. So I opt out so my friends can more easily ignore ads and focus on content. If I recommend something, social search should mean it appears in search results for friends anyway, why should I give Google extra cash for using my face to advertise to my friends if they're not paying me?