Google+ Says Fake Name Users Will Be Notified Before Accounts Canceled

Google+ says it should have had better manners in cancelling user accounts with fake names without forewarning. Now it will try to right the wrong, giving users with fake names who violate the Google+'s policy a heads-up first so they can right the wrong before having their account canceled.

"We've noticed that many (fake name) violations of the Google+ common name policy were in fact well-intentioned and inadvertent and for these users our process can be frustrating and disappointing," wrote Google+ VP Bradley Horowitz, on Google+. "So we're currently making a number of improvements to this process -- specifically regarding how we notify these users that they're not in compliance with Google+ policies and how we communicate the remedies available to them."

In other words, Google+ will tell users if they are suspected of being in violation with a fake name so the user will have the opportunity to address the issue before their account is canceled. Also, Google+ has more clearly addressed its name policy that has been causing so much confusion, and also resulted in many Google+ users becoming upset after their accounts were canceled without warning or notice of any kind.

Google's name policy states that users need to use their real name instead of using pseudonyms:

"Google Profiles is a product that works best in the identified state. This way you can be certain you're connecting with the right person, and others will have confidence knowing that there is someone real behind the profile they're checking out. For this reason, Google Profiles requires you to use the name that you commonly go by in daily life."

Google said users of its new social network Google+ are being required to use real names to set a site-wide positive tone -- similar to when "a restaurant doesn't allow people who aren't wearing shirts to enter," according to a report.

Google vice president Vic Gundotra reportedly had a conversation with tech blogger Robert Scoble in which Gundotra, Google's senior vice president in charge of social media, said the requirement of Google+ users to use only real names on the social network is there for good reason.

Still in the early stages of a field test roll out, Google+ has been changing since its launch one month ago. Recently, Google+ stirred controversy among some of its 15 to 20 million users by suspending accounts that did not have user's real name attached.

Competitive social media site Facebook allows users to go online with fake names, or pseudonyms. Even Google founder Sergey Brin uses a fake name on Facebook.

Gundotra says Google+ has made mistakes in its first attempt with Google+, according to a report in CNET, but that the requirement to use real names is merely an effort to set a positive, professional tone with Google's new social network site.

Gundotra reportedly explained to Scoble that the Google+ requirement isn't about real names or legal names. Instead, "it is about having common names and removing people who spell their names in weird ways, like using upside-down characters, or who are using obviously fake names, like "'god' or worse."