How to Opt Out of Google's Plan to Use Your Name and Comments in Ads When Google announced last week that it would change its terms of service to allow it to show people's social networking activity - like names, photos, ratings, reviews and comments - in ads across more than two million Web sites, it strongly emphasized that users could easily opt out. Yet for some Google users, the opt-out process was not as easy as Google made it sound. "Unfortunately, Google has joined Facebook in making it as confusing as possible for people to "opt out" or control how their personal info is used," Anna Varela, 47, a Web strategist at Georgia State University, wrote in an e-mail that echoed messages I received from other readers. She visited Google's page for opting out, she wrote, but "found myself unsure if I should tick the opt-out box because it reads like you're actually opting in." The opt-out box, found at the Google Plus settings page for shared endorsements, does use the language of opting in: "Based upon my activity, Google may show my name and profile photo in shared endorsements that appear in ads." To clear things up: People who do not want their profile information and comments used in ads must uncheck the box next to that phrase. The box is, by default, checked for Google Plus users.