Starting June 24, Google will make all of its reviews of movies, TV shows, books, albums, and games publicly available on a single profile page. These profiles will also be searchable in Google Search, meaning users can be profiled based on their likes and dislikes, according to an email Google sent to users last month.
The company first introduced the ability to post movie reviews for users based in India in 2017. Over the years, the feature has expanded globally. Last year, the company told TechCrunch that it had made review profiles public and searchable in select regions, starting with the US and India. Now, the company has made all profiles public worldwide.
Essentially, you can click on any user profile to see all of the reviews that user has posted. Google told TechCrunch that it offers a toggle switch to make profiles private, but according to SEO consultant Gagan Ghotra and TechCrunch's observations, the toggle wasn't available until earlier this week.
“Profiles make it easier for you to view and manage your reviews for movies, TV shows, and more in one place, making your reviews more helpful to others. These reviews are already public, but we also give you the option to make your profile private or delete it completely, as well as edit or delete your reviews privately,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch.
Google also makes all profiles public by default, which means that if you don't know you have a reviews profile page or don't pay attention to our emails (they may end up in your Gmail spam or updates folder), your profile is available for anyone to see.
The company told TechCrunch that it notified users of the profile hiding control through the Google Profile interface. Additionally, it notified users of the new Google Profile through a pop-up in their existing reviews. But users who don't know about the new profile's existence are unlikely to visit the page, nor are they likely to frequently re-read their reviews for shows and movies. Google needs to do a better job of notifying users about entirely new pages associated with their accounts.
If Google knows that a profile page exists, it will display a pop-up notification on your profile page asking if you want to make your profile page public. Image credit: Screenshot from TechCrunch
Ghotra told TechCrunch in a direct message that searchable profiles can also be used by potential employers to learn about future employee opinions, potentially influencing the likelihood of being hired. Plus, they're an easy target for advertisers to scrape this data and serve targeted ads to users.
How to hide your profile
To make your preview profile private:
Go to profile.google.com, click/tap on the three-dot menu next to your profile name, select the “Profile options” item, and turn on the privacy toggle for your profile.
Image credit: Screenshot from TechCrunch
If your profile is hidden, your individual reviews will still appear under the movie or TV show title, but they won't link to the full reviews page. Reviews on Google Maps are not included in this rollout.