What's going on with Google and YouTube?

General Questions
#1

Have I hooked up to some sort of phishing scam or is don’t-be-evil Google really linking up the entire world’s emails, searches, youtube views, and telephone numbers?

I just went to look at a video on YouTube and got a page telling me I can’t log on to my YouTube account unless I link the account to a Google account. It says if I don’t want to link my accounts (and I don’t) I have the option to create a new Google account.

When I tried making a new Gmail account to make a new Google account (which I NEVER intend to use), it demands that I give them a phone number which they will call or text a verification number to that I need to activate the account.

Is this real or have I run into some sort of scam?

#2

No. It’s real. They have my cell phone number and have texted me a new password when, for some inexplicable reason, I couldn’t access my Gmail account.

They prefer that you have one user account for both Gmail and Youtube.

I wouldn’t sweat it.

#3

They’ve been flagging this move for ages. It’s been optional for quite a while to sign in to YouTube with your Google account, they might well have made it mandatory now. As for the phone number, that’s supposed to be a safeguard against forgetting your password, etc., in which case they send it to you by text. That too used to be optional (I’d get a nag screen about it from time to time until I finally relented.)

Doesn’t bother me too much as it’s a mobile number I maintain for just such occasions, not my personal one.

#4

No sweat. I’m just done with both google and youtube. They get no phone number from me.

Doing some non-google web searches, I’m seeing that Facebook is also demanding phone numbers now. I never use it and don’t know if they are also owned by Google.

People are really just accepting this? Wow. I am stunned.

#5

They forced me to do this as well.

Initially I was trying to log in to post a message on YouTube. It told me to link my accounts. I decided screw that and just tried to access YouTube. However, once it figured I had an account it would not let me look at YouTube at all and kept forcing me to the signup page.

Pissed me off. Not that it is a big deal but being forced like this definitely bugs me.

#6

Huh. Do you simply mean it won’t let you log into just YouTube (because you can’t do that any more), or that even when you log off it won’t let you see videos?

I logged out and aside from being unable to comment or look at my favorites, I have no problems. I’m thinking on creating a Google account to get back into my YouTube account, but I haven’t actually decided it’s worth it.

#7

I am currently unable to access youtube at all. Even clicking on a link from a page on this board gives me:

Please enter your YouTube account password to verify you own this account

I haven’t really tried to get around it but there’s probably a cookie somewhere I can remove. I am soooo pissed right now. The only real reason I want to get on now is to remove the two videos I have posted … and there is no question of copyright infringement.

Ooops. Cancel that. I did find a “Sign Out” button. I can still watch videos, but can’t log on to remove the ones I’ve uploaded.

#8

I had the same issue.

It would NOT let me watch any videos till I did their thing.

It was late and I was too tired to work around it.

Pissed me off though.

On my work PC I can access YouTube with no problem without logging in.

#9

So how are they going to text me on my rotary phone line?

#10

If you can’t receive a text they robo-call you with an automated voice. No kidding.

I have a hunch you’ll be hearing a lot more about this as they ramp up the number of people who are being subjected to it. It’s got to be some sort of rolling schedule – they can’t just dump it on several hundred million people all at once.

#11

What exactly is the question?

Why do they want to link a YouTube account with a Google account? Because they want to normalize all of their accounts into one type. It probably makes things a lot easier for them. Most people are fine with this. The ones that are not can create a dummy account.

Why do they require a phone/text number? As others said, for a safe password recovery feature. Without a phone (an out-of-band channel) they would have to rely on another service provider’s email account (an alternate email address), but that compromises security since they are dependent on a third-party. What happens if Yahoo! folds and 40% of gmail users don’t have access to their alternative emails? People are always trying to reset my password; I like the extra protection. It also works as a captcha since bots can’t create a bunch of accounts quickly.

I’m not sure what the drawback is to sharing your phone number, it’s not really top-secret to begin with. Someone that concerned about privacy should not use Gmail in the first place. But fora throw away account, you could use a public phone, work phone, etc.

#12

The issue is they forced me to do it. I just wanted to watch a video a friend sent.

Also, I have a different e-mail account. I don’t want a Gmail account.

None of my accounts are dummy accounts.

#13

Then they really didn’t force you to. You can still watch videos without being logged in. They confused and frustrated you, granted, but didn’t <b>force</b> you to do anything.

#14

:rolleyes:

#15

Its annoying because I have my youtube account, then a gmail account for play, as well as a gmail account for more serious stuff. Now I have to log in and out all the time.

#16

Why the :rolleyes: ? Seriously, just sign out of your account. Then you can watch videos as much as you like, as the OP already discovered.