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Google+ is introducing ‘vanity’ URLs to a limited number of verified profiles.
There is promise that customisable URLs will become available to all of its 170 million plus users in the future. But for now Google+ has stated in its blog that a selected number of verified accounts, including those belonging to Britney Spears, David Beckham, Hugo Boss and Ubisoft, will no longer have a long number string to identify their accounts.
They can now be found at google.com/+britneyspears, google.com/+davidbeckham, and so on.
“Your Google+ profile is a place for you to share your passions with the millions of people who come to Google each day,” said the Google+ blog. “Today we’re introducing custom URLs to make it even easier for people to find your profile on Google+.”
Whilst it’s clear that Google+ users see the change in URLs as a positive, some are frustrated that becoming verified seems to be about who you know rather than your content.
“In order to get verified in the first place I had to send documentation to Google. Which I willingly did. Now the "A-List" gets free verification while those who did the work previously got stripped of theirs. It truly pays to be a slimy self-marketer, I guess,” posted one Google+ user.
Another comments: “I work for a company that has several valuable brand names and profiles that already exist on Google Plus. They aren’t, however, verified. Why aren’t we able to register those unique brand URLs right now along with the Britney Spears and Hugo Bosses of the world? Will we have to race against someone who has no connection to the brand to get the vanity URL? This system just seem so subjective and unfair.”
Are you a Google+ user? Do you think it’s unfair that Google’s verification system takes so long? Let us know in the comments section below.
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