Google Could Add Face Recognition to Google Profiles

Florian Rohrweck found a lot of interesting things analyzing Google's code. For example, Google Profiles will add an option that will allow Google to recognize your face in other people's photos. Picasa Web's name tags can become global: a new section from your profile titled "photos of you" will list the photos from other people where you are tagged. Google provides an approval mechanism, so you can reject some of the photos. "When a tag is approved, it is linked to your profile, and the photo is added to the 'Photos of you' section."


Google Profiles will include a new tab for videos, a photo editing feature, you'll be able to group your friends in "circles", chat from Google Profiles and add gadgets. There's also a "camera sync" feature that could automatically upload the photos from the "camera" album of a mobile phone or tablet.


As expected, Google Profiles is the place where Google's social efforts are most visible. Buzz will be a back-end service for activity streams and not a standalone service. Google Profiles could eventually replace iGoogle, since it will add support for gadgets and it will include the most interesting items shared by the people you're following.

{ Thanks, Florian. }

Google Business Profiles?

The source code of the Google Profiles page includes a broken link that has a revealing anchor text: "business profiles". The link sends you to a page that doesn't exist: http://www.google.com/_/managepages, but this feature could add Google Profiles to Google Apps and allow users to create multiple profile pages.


Another interesting thing is that Google has a new subdomain: https://plusone.google.com, which redirects to Google Profiles. There's already a Web page about the +1 button, so it's not clear why Google has a new address for Google +1. Maybe profiles will be a feature of Google +1.

{ Thanks, Florian. }

Google's Navigation Bar Links to Your Google Profile

Google's new navigation bar started to link to the profile pages. Click on your name at the top of a Google page and you'll notice that you can quickly access your profile. If you don't have a profile, Google includes a link to a page that lets you create an account.


Another change is that Google Profiles include a new tab for Picasa Web Albums, but it's not enabled by default and it's not available if you don't link your Google Profile with Picasa Web. "Your profile and scrapbook photos already make it easier for people to get to know you, but we want to do more to help you showcase your favorite pics. By choosing to show the PicasaWeb tab, you will enable visitors to see your public albums. Private albums will remain visible to only the people you've shared them with directly."


{ Thanks, Stefan. }

Unedited Google Profile Pictures, Publicly Available

If you want to upload a profile photo to your Google Profile and use the cropping feature to edit the photo, it's important to know that the original version is publicly available. François Beaufort noticed that you can go to http://profiles.google.com/s2/photos/profile/me (replace me with the profile ID) and get the highest resolution of the profile picture as it was uploaded by the user.

When you upload a photo, Google says that "the full photo will be stored in your profile photos album, but we will display just the square crop on your profile page." By default, the profile photos album is not publicly accessible so it was reasonable to assume that the original photos can't be accessed by anyone but you. (Update: As Brian Rose points out, the profile photos album is unlisted if you haven't connected Picasa Web with Google Profiles and it's public otherwise.)


Until Google fixes this issue, it's probably a good idea to use a photo editor to crop and resize the image before uploading it to Google Profiles.

Add Multiple Google Profile Photos

The new Google Profiles interface lets you upload multiple profile photos and switch between them with a simple click. Visitors can see all the photos you've uploaded, so you must be careful when you replace a profile photo. It's not enough to click "change photo" and upload the new image: you should also click on the image and delete the previous profile photo.


Profile photos are stored in a Picasa Web album, just like the photos from the Scrapbook section. The main difference is that profile photos can be cropped or edited in Picnik.

If you already have a Google Profile, it's a good idea to upload a new profile photo. The new interface uses bigger photos, so your old avatar looks pixelated.

Google Profiles Has a New Interface

Google Profiles has a new user interface that emphasizes the profile photo, includes many new sections and uses encrypted connections. You can now click on a section of your profile to edit it, add "10 words that describe you best", bragging rights, relationship information, structured information about your education and employment, a scrapbook with your favorite photos. Another change is that you can now hide the Google Buzz tab from your profile.




The new Google Profiles is closer to a social networking feature, but it's just one piece of the puzzle.

New Google Profile Search

Google has a new specialized search engine for searching Google Profiles. It has a better interface than the regular Google Profiles search feature, it's integrated with Google Search and it shows additional links from people's profiles.

This feature is not yet enabled in the interface, but you can search Google Profiles by adding &tbs=prfl:1 to a Google Search URL. Here's an example.

Google could use the data from user profiles to provide advanced search features like restricting profiles to people who lived in Chicago, attended Long Island University and are interested in sports.


{ spotted by François Beaufort }

Picasa Web Users, Forced to Link Their Google Profiles

Google tries to make Picasa Web Albums a little more social, but it's not easy to convince users that this is a good idea. I posted in August that Google will link Picasa Web Albums with Google Profiles. On the surface, this is a minor feature, but Google didn't manage to explain users why it's important.

If you visit Picasa Web Albums, you'll see a huge modal dialog:

"Together at last! Picasa Web Albums now uses your public Google Profile to display your name and profile photo on your albums and next to your comments. This will help improve your experience in two ways. First, the quality of interactions across Picasa Web Albums will improve as friends can see and recognize whom they are interacting with. Second, using multiple Google products will be easier because you can now update your profile in one place."


It makes sense for Google to have unified public profiles that integrate will all services, but users may find this disconcerting. Why take away my hard-earned alternate username and change it with a number? Why not use a different number in the URL than the Google Profiles ID, like Google Reader does? Why associate my photos with a public profile that includes my name and my Google Buzz messages?

Custom usernames were useful and I don't see why Google isn't more flexible. You should be able to keep the existing username or at least pick an URL that can't be guessed from your profile address.

Instead of trying to make profiles more flexible, Google decided to disable most of the features until you link your Google Profile. You can no longer share a photo, favorite a user, add a comment. If you still don't like the new feature, you have the one-time opportunity to transfer your photos to a new account.



You can't force users to use a new feature by crippling the other features and then expect them to like the new feature.

Here's how a Google employee tries to address this issue:

the chief reason for this profiles change is because we want the vast majority of pwa users to have a quality experience with other pwa users. right now, its common for a pwa user to get a comment on a photo from another user, and have the comment be effectively meaningless because it was posted by 'DJJazzyJeff01234'. we've heard from many users how this freaks them out, and makes pwa a scarier place. we think this makes for a low quality social interaction between users and does not cause further engagement.

the other main reason we're doing this is to simply help users manage their google profiles better across multiple google products. the reality is that many of our users use several google products, not just picasa. the new model lets you manage your profile ONCE, and you're done.

in the end, you still will have total control over what others see. you can set your profile to show your full name publicly OR simply opt-out of your name being found in search. also your profile won't display any private information unless you've explicitly added it.

Google's First Personalized Doodle

Google found a nice way to wish you Happy Birthday. If you visit Google's homepage when you are signed in and it's your birthday, you'll see a special doodle that links to your Google profile. When you go to your profile, you'll find colorful confetti and a Happy Birthday message, but that's not new.

"Because doodles are such a fun part of the search experience, we thought we'd share a fun little way Google will help celebrate your birthday. When you include your date of birth on your Google profile, you may notice a special treat on the Google homepage on your birthday (be sure to sign in). Click on the doodle for another birthday surprise," informs the Google blog.



To change your birthday, go to your profile, click on "Edit profile" and select the "Contact info" tab. The tab lets you enter some information that can be shared with your contacts.

{ via Blogoscoped Forum }

Link Your Google Profile with Picasa Web Albums

Picasa Web Albums added an option to connect the service with Google Profiles. Before Google Profiles was released, each Google service used separate profiles, so you had to enter personal information multiple times.

"Picasa Web Albums are now compatible with your Google Profile! Now when you use Picasa Web Albums, you can use the same profile name and photo that you use on your Google Profile. Your Picasa Web Albums will link to your Google Profile, and your profile will link to your public albums," informs Google's photo service.


After linking your Google Profile with Picasa Web Albums, you can edit the profile and remove the link to your public albums.

If you've previously used an alias to hide your Gmail address from the URL, you can no longer use it after merging the profiles. The only option you have is to use the same ID number from Google Profiles.

It's interesting that Picasa Web's code calls this feature "merged profiles softlaunch", which suggests that users aren't required to merge profiles, but that will change in the future.

Google Buzz Makes Your Profile Searchable

An unexpected side effect of enabling Google Buzz is that your Google Profile automatically becomes searchable. Until now, you could edit your profile and only show your nickname publicly. When you activate Google Buzz, it automatically enables this option: "Display my full name so I can be found in search" and your full name becomes searchable. Google mentions that "changing your name here will change it in all Google products".


If you try disable the option in your Google profile, you'll no longer be able to post a new Google Buzz message until the option is enabled. Google will show this message:


That means Google Profile Search indexes all the profiles of Google Buzz users. Since Google Buzz is automatically enabled if you use Gmail, almost all Gmail users are listed.