The Plus in Google plus

This morning my wife got an email message with the title:

You may have missed this post from Ken Goodman.

 When she opened it it was an ad for Samsung gear , the watch that is supposed to work with smart phones. I say supposed because it was sold as compatible with my  Verizon Samsung GalaxyIII phone- but it is not.

This supposed endorsement was sent to everyone in my google plus circles. In  trying vainly to find who to complain to I discovered that google plus markets a service cleverly called Hoot that permits advertisers to produce such targeted ads. Everyone on my “circles” got this ad disguised as something I had posted.

This corporate Chutzpah is mind blowing. Could someone tell all my family and friends that I support a candidate that I don’t? Could I be sued for someone who bought a bad product supposedly on my advice?

Isn’t this the ultimate in identity theft? And what can you or I do about it.  I can’t even figure out how to unsubscribe to Google plus.

I use google for everything- calendar, browser, even watching  Pac 12 games. And now I find all the time Google has been using me. I consider myself a computer savvy person (more or less)  I use it for my professional writing and for maintaining my wide contacts. Now I must tell my friends and associates be careful what you see with my name on it.

Even my name is fair game for these cyber vultures.

Ken Goodman