Google modifies sign-up naming process

Google says it is modifying the naming policy on its Google+ social network but still will not allow users to remain anonymous. The company said it is moving "toward a more inclusive naming policy for Google+" by allowing people to add nicknames to their accounts, to be displayed alongside the real identity. However, Google is still largely refusing to listen to users who want to sign up anonymously to the service, blocking many users who want to sign onto the network with a pseudonym, The Register tech site reported Tuesday. The "vast majority of users sail through" the process for creating new accounts for Google products, product vice president Bradley Horowitz said, noting "only about 0.1 percent [of the Internet giant's user base] submit name appeals." Sixty percent percent of those users want the ability to add nicknames while 20 percent want to set up Google profiles as a business page. The final 20 percent want to "use a pseudonym or another unconventional name," Horowitz said. It's that last 20 percent who are being ignored by Google and blocked from signing up anonymously, The Register said.