Google+ Giving Four Days' Grace Period to Potential Name Policy Violators

After heated discussions about Google's name policy -- which requires people on Google+ to use their real name and not a pseudonym -- Google will now give potential violators four days to comply before suspending their account.

Saurabh Sharma, a product manager on the Google+ team, says in a YouTube video that those notified about a name-policy violation will be able to use their Google+ account during the grace period "as usual" adding, "We're hoping that most affected users will able to quickly fix their profile name while enjoying all that Google+ has to offer." [ Note that the creepy giraffe is back in the video.]

Sharma points out that those who are "unable to comply" own their content and will be able to take it off Google+.

In resharing Sharma's post, VP of Product Bradley Horowitz wrote, "I mentioned in this post that we would soon be providing a 'grace period' with respect to account suspensions related to name policy. Today I'm happy to announce that we've delivered on this. Thanks to the teams that made this happen."

Reactions to Horowitz's post were mixed.

"BRAVO GOOGLE! You own the website, you make the rules," wrote Michael Grosheim, president and CEO of Grosh, Inc., which publishes Mixx Magazine.

"If you've listened you know that this isn't a patch on what people want. The media circus isn't going to stop. We're adding an extra ring and clowns," wrote Rainyday Walker, who states on his Google+ about page "I was a pre-public Google+ user and have had my account suspended over a matter of principle."

George Van Wagner, a writer and musician, wrote, "This policy is fairly meaningless to those who are best known in the online world by their pseudonyms, and a positive slap in the face to those who want to engage with the wider world but, unfortunately, live in such circumstances where such engagement carries incommensurate risk."