Gmail Logorrhoea

October 4, 2011 2:29 PM

I just noticed that when I'm logged in to my gmail account, and open up youtube, my gmail is tied to my youtube watching. What other websites will automatically be tied to my gmail account if I'm still logged in? Is there a list somewhere?

Or is this case unique to youtube since google owns youtube?

Bonus points if you can tell me a way to disable my gmail account for anything but my email.

posted by Think_Long to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)

Pretty much everything Google, including Google Search, will be tied to your Gmail account while you're logged in. I don't know how to disable this, but you can control various settings at http://accounts.google.com.
posted by maxim0512 at 2:31 PM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

I use one browser only for logging in to gmail (the now sort of defunct flock) and chrome and firefox for everything else.
posted by elizardbits at 2:34 PM on October 4, 2011

I just did this a few weeks ago and now I can't remember how exactly I did it (and since now mine's disconnected, it doesn't show up.) It may have been through Dashboard or accounts.google.com.
posted by cobaltnine at 2:35 PM on October 4, 2011

I just discovered a creepy instance in Google Search, where a result for Quora showed that one of my G+ friends is on Quora. This is no big deal except that he used a pseudonym on Quora (which Google Search showed me: Joe X (Mr. Pseudonym on Quora)). When I showed this to my friend, he noted that he had actually signed up for Quora using a different GMail account than the one that is tied to his Google+ account.

So...yeah...pretty much everything Google-related is tied together and, apparently, this can cut across different GMail account depending on the sort of settings you've used.
posted by asnider at 2:40 PM on October 4, 2011

Or is this case unique to youtube since google owns youtube?

Sort of, yes. You should think of YouTube as a part of google and less as a stand-alone property. When you're logged into "Gmail" you're really logging into Google and all its services/sites.

Bonus points if you can tell me a way to disable my gmail account for anything but my email.

Not possible. It just doesn't work that way.
posted by GuyZero at 2:40 PM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

I hate to put on my tinfoil hat, but even if you aren't signed in to Google, your web history is being tracked by Google. In addition, even if you clear said history, Google admits that they clear it from the service (meaning their "helpful suggestion features, etc.) but not from logs:

You can delete information from Web History using the remove feature, and it will be removed from the service. However, as is common practice in the industry, and as outlined in the Google Privacy Policy, Google maintains a separate logs system for auditing purposes and to help us improve the quality of our services for users.

Don't be evil indeed.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 2:45 PM on October 4, 2011

I should clarify that you don't necessarily have an AdSense or AdWords account but your gmail address is automatically tied to YouTube, Google Docs, Reader, etc. You won't necessarily have a Voice account either... yeah, there should be a list but I don't think there is one.
posted by GuyZero at 2:45 PM on October 4, 2011

If you think this is bad, wait until you find out all of the things that connect to your Facebook data...
posted by twblalock at 3:08 PM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Once upon a time there were completely separate YouTube and Google accounts. Then we added the ability to link them. Now all signed in Google users have a "lightweight" YouTube account that allows basic things like watching age-restricted videos. I think to upload you still need to upgrade that account to a "regular" YouTube account (linked to your Google account).
posted by wildcrdj at 3:08 PM on October 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

You want a list of Google Products, which includes Picasa, Blogger, and a bunch more.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:16 PM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

That's not quite it either as products like AdWords, Checkout, Voice, Latitude and Orkut don't all log you in in quite the same way. although they will use your account settings once they're fully set up.
posted by GuyZero at 3:18 PM on October 4, 2011

Bonus points if you can tell me a way to disable my gmail account for anything but my email.

I can offer you one better, albeit not exactly what you want to hear...

Use a browser with a "private browsing" mode (clears cache and cookies and history on closing it). Always restart your browser both before and after logging into your account at any site. They can track you backward just as well as forward, and merely logging out doesn't do a damned thing so far as cookies go.

So browse browse browse, restart, GMail, restart, MeFi, restart, browse browse browse.
posted by pla at 3:49 PM on October 4, 2011

Best answer: Do you use firefox? If so, install multifox, the 2.whatever version (beta). It allows you to use different firefox profiles in multiple tabs, all in the same window (so no switching between different browsers or windows). Thus you can logout of your google account while at youtube.com (or sign in to a dummy account), while staying logged into gmail in another tab.

I installed this after noticing the new "youtube lite." As a side benefit, I can now log into two different gmail accounts (that I want to keep unlinked) in different tabs.

I'm sure it's best to only browse in private mode/incognito mode, but this is what I'm using for now.
posted by neda at 4:17 PM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]