Michael Zimmer.org

(via Google Blogoscoped)
Google’s recent meeting with market analysts introduced the possibility that Google might create a “Premium” service which could require the creation of user accounts to access some of its tools:

Google is likely to require its users to begin providing personal information to use some of its products and services, said CEO Eric Schmidt. Requiring people to provide their identity and a password to gain service access is common at many Web sites, but would be new for Google. Having more personal information would enable Google to offer more useful improvements….

Requiring “personal information” to access some Google tools raises significant privacy concerns, especially in conjunction with Google’s already contentious use of web cookies.