Google+ Custom (vanity) URLs with your name in it

[taberstruths]

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System: The following message was cut out of thread at: http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4619465.htm [webmasterworld.com] by aakk9999 - 3:53 am on Oct 30, 2013 (gmt 0)

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I don't know if it means anything or not but I just got an email from G+ asking me if I wanted a fancy dancy url to my G+ account that has my name rather than a number.

Has anyone else seen this or did I just get the brownie point of the year award?

[Sally Stitts]

If your profile meets the following criteria, Google+ will let you claim a custom URL:
Has a profile photo, and
Has at least 10 followers, and
Has an account that’s at least 30 days old.

They forgot one -
MOBILE PHONE REQUIRED

Did it ever occur to them that some folks don't have a cell phone?

I live in a valley in the mountains where there is NO TOWER ACCESS!
Surely, I am not the only one.

A mobile phone would be USELESS. I would only see messages when I went to town, which is as seldom as possible. I don't think that is the kind of response they want. And, of course, it would totally prevent me from responding to them in real time, WHICH IS REQUIRED BY THEM to get my "Custom URL".

I tried to get my URL, but their ill-thought-out hoop-jumping totally prevented me from getting it. Not the first time this issue has arisen.
Pure frustration.
.

[mihomes]

Not sure I am following you... are you saying Google tried to call your mobile phone as some sort of confirmation?

I was never required to do this... just went to my account after receiving the email and could either accept/deny the custom url.

If you are talking about the request form they are no longer accepting those requests. It appears you now just have to sit and wait for them to email you with whatever name they picked for your page.

[Sally Stitts]

I don't have a mobile phone.

In order to get my Custom URL, they DEMANDED a mobile phone number, so they could send me a text message of some code I had to enter ... somewhere.

Google direct quote -

Verify your mobile phone number
You must verify your mobile phone number by entering a code sent in a text message (SMS), before you can claim a custom URL.

No special request - I just wanted to accept it.

I tried it 2 different ways -
1. from the email they sent me, and
2. from my Google+ profile
Identical results - no cigar.

If I close my eyes, hold my breath, and jump up and down on one foot, will that help?

My interest in a custom URL just dropped to zero.
C'mon, Google. Email, maybe?

[mihomes]

Not sure what to tell you with that one. I never had to enter a phone number and any time Google asks me to enter my mobile number (I believe they called it security in case I forgot my password or something) I have skipped it.

You may just have a special case where this is required or maybe they changed the format recently?

I would be pretty ticked off as well... add it to the list of things upsetting webmasters these days!

[Sally Stitts]

I never had to enter a phone number and any time Google asks me to enter my mobile number (I believe they called it security in case I forgot my password or something) I have skipped it.

Me too! Many times.
Apparently, skipping is no longer an option.

special case

AdSense publisher 10 years - not special enough, I surmise.
I have made 100s of thousands of $ for Google.

This strong arm tactic really says -
1. "You must buy a mobile phone" AND
2. "You MUST LIVE where there is cell phone COVERAGE."

The second one is a little tough. I have no intention of moving to a different area, for the sole purpose of getting a vanity URL.

One wonders if they peer review their actions.
Email is the logical choice. Using this method, they send me stuff FAR more sensitive to security issues. I don't get it. Is this a case of trying to be "too clever", once again? Or temporary insanity caused by an all-consuming, unbridled fetish for data collection?

Long time fan, banner carrier, and partner = no respect, no accommodation, no worky.

[EditorialGuy]

Sally Stitts: The two-step verification requirement may be annoying, but it isn't part of a conspiracy: It's merely a relatively simple and user-friendly approach to multifactor authentication, which is used for applications where security is important (as it is in the case of a custom URL with your name in it).

Fortunately, nobody needs a custom Google+ URL, so Google didn't have to compromise identity protection when it looked for the sweet spot between maximum security and maximum convenience.

[buckworks]

EditorialGuy, I have confirmed more than one custom URL without being asked for a mobile number.

I agree with SallyStitts that Google is being unfair and capricious about this.

[Sally Stitts]

but it isn't part of a conspiracy

I never said that, or even thought that.

It's merely a relatively simple and user-friendly approach to multifactor authentication

It is only "simple", IF you have a cell phone.
If NOT, then it is IMPOSSIBLE.

I don't think the "compromise" you mention is very good, when there is no alternative, for those who do not have a mobile phone. Just toss a whole class of users. Non mobile phone owners.

[Tonearm]

Sally, why don't you sign up for Google Voice (free) and have them send the SMS there? If that won't work, there are lots of online phone services that will allow you to receive an SMS without a phone. phone.com has a free trial.

[EditorialGuy]

I don't think the "compromise" you mention is very good, when there is no alternative, for those who do not have a mobile phone. Just toss a whole class of users. Non mobile phone owners.

Well, it beats any of the obvious alternatives (such as fingerprint readers or retina scanners).

Still, you might try Tonearm's solution if you can't live without a Google+ vanity URL.

[netmeg]

I wonder if it's tied into 2-step authentication on Google accounts in some way.

[taberstruths]

Last I checked, the 2 step verification process is an option on your Google accounts. I don't think it is mandatory but if you signed up for it on one, it applies to all.

[Sally Stitts]

... if you can't live without a Google+ vanity URL

Ah, but I can live without it.
Situation solved.

I just wanted to let others be aware of the problem.
.

[keyplyr]

Last I checked, the 2 step verification process is an option on your Google accounts. I don't think it is mandatory but if you signed up for it on one, it applies to all.

I agree. You don't need a mobile phone unless you chose that option.

[diberry]

Texting is also the only way to give Google your phone number so that if your account is ever compromised, they can tell you're the real owner. Most companies that use that kind of authentication feature do have a second option - I know, because until a few months ago I refused to pay extra for texting on my monthly cell phone plan. The second option with some company I used involved a robot calling me with some instructions... can't remember the whole process, but you could totally have done that with a landline.

So while a vanity URL may not be a necessity, Google is pretty obsessed with security, and their "texting only" approach is making it impossible for people without texting ability to comply with that extra feature on their Gmail or other Google accounts. I can't imagine that's Google's intention, but it's also hard to imagine they live in such a bubble that it never occurred to them that loads of people do not have cell phones, or do but refuse to pay for texting. Very odd.

[EditorialGuy]

I can't imagine that's Google's intention, but it's also hard to imagine they live in such a bubble that it never occurred to them that loads of people do not have cell phones, or do but refuse to pay for texting. Very odd.

Or maybe they just figure that, since the service being offered is optional, it isn't important that it be available to everyone--and security for the many trumps inconvenience for the few.

(Not being a regular cellphone user, I didn't know until recently that texting was still popular. Silly me: I thought it was something kids were using to communicate with each other in the classroom!)

[diberry]

EditorialGuy, I think I was less clear than I thought. In my second paragraph, the "service" I'm talking about is the ability to get back a compromised account, NOT the vanity URL. In making that verification difficult (for the purpose of identifying the proper account "owner"), Google is making things less secure, not more convenient.

And since I doubt that's their intention, I'm just mystified by the thinking process that led them not to provide an alternative method for beefing up security on my account, let alone the vanity URL thing.

[netmeg]

It's not just Google. Lots of companies (including some of my banks) do this.

[Sally Stitts]

Google finds my email secure enough to send me PASSWORDS,
yet I cannot tell them "yes" to something that they have already suggested and approved?
Crazy. Frustrating.
Too much work for them, I guess. Doesn't scale.
If you can't comply with the borg interface, talk to the hand.
No email alternative. No land line alternative. I wonder if showing up at their front door would help - it's only 40 miles.
I am SOL, period.
Oh, well. It isn't the first time.
This year, they have reduced the traffic they send me by over 1/2. They used to like me, just fine.