A Google Account is a

user account A user is a person who utilizes a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified to the system by a username (or user name). Other terms for username include login name, screenname (or screen name), accoun ...

that is required for access, authentication and authorization to certain online

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

services. It is also often used as

single sign on Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single ID to any of several related, yet independent, software systems. True single sign-on allows the user to log in once and access services without re-enterin ...

for third party services.

Usage

A Google Account is required for

Gmail Gmail is a free email service provided by Google. As of 2019, it had 1.5 billion active users worldwide. A user typically accesses Gmail in a web browser or the official mobile app. Google also supports the use of email clients via the POP and ...

Google Hangouts Google Hangouts is a discontinued cross-platform instant messaging service developed by Google. It originally was a feature of Google+, becoming a standalone product in 2013, when Google also began integrating features from Google+ Messenger a ...

, Google Meet and

Blogger A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

. Some Google products do not require an account, including

Google Search Google Search (also known simply as Google) is a search engine provided by Google. Handling more than 3.5 billion searches per day, it has a 92% share of the global search engine market. It is also the most-visited website in the world. The ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

Google Finance Google Finance is a website focusing on business news and financial information hosted by Google. History Google Finance was first launched by Google on March 21, 2006. The service featured business and enterprise headlines for many corporation ...

and

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

. However, an account is needed for uploading videos to YouTube and for making edits in Google Maps.

and

maintain separate accounts for users who registered with the services before the Google acquisition. However, effective April 2011 YouTube users are required to link to a separate Google Account if they wish to continue to log into that service. Google Account users may create a publicly accessible Google profile, to configure their presentation on Google products to other Google users. A Google profile can be linked to a user's profiles on various social-networking and image-hosting sites, as well as user

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

s. Third-party service providers may implement service authentication for Google Account holders via the Google Account mechanism.

Security

While creating a Google account, users are asked to provide a recovery email address to allow them to reset their password if they have forgotten it, or if their account is hacked. In some countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and India, Google may also require one-time use of a

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...

to send an account validation code by SMS

text messaging Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...

or voice message when creating a new account. Google also offers a

two-step verification Multi-factor authentication (MFA; encompassing two-factor authentication, or 2FA, along with similar terms) is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting ...

option—for additional security against hacking—that requests a validation code each time the user logs into their Google account. The code is either generated by an application ("

Google Authenticator Google Authenticator is a software-based authenticator by Google that implements two-step verification services using the Time-based One-time Password Algorithm (TOTP; specified in RFC 6238) and HMAC-based One-time Password algorithm (HOTP; sp ...

" or other similar apps) or received from Google as an SMS text message, a voice message, or an email to another account. Trusted devices can be "marked" to skip this 2-step log-on authentication. When this feature is switched on, software that cannot provide the validation code (e.g. IMAP and POP3 clients) must use a unique 16-character alphanumeric password generated by Google instead of the user's normal password. Users who seek an even higher level of security protection, including users whose accounts could be attractive targets for hackers, such as celebrities, politicians, journalists, political activists and wealthy individuals, can opt-in to Google's Advanced Protection Program. This program requires the user to purchase two U2F USB keys — not for data storage, but for identity verification. The U2F keys are used to provide two-step verification during login. One is for backup purposes, in case the first is lost. The Advanced Protection Program includes further security measures to protect the user's account, such as restrictions on which applications the user can grant access to their account, and a more thorough identity verification process for regaining access to the account if the password is forgotten. On June 5, 2012, a new security feature was introduced to protect users from state-sponsored attacks. Whenever Google analysis indicate that a government has attempted to compromise an account, a notice will be displayed that reads "Warning: We believe state-sponsored attackers may be trying to compromise your account or computer."

Activity tracking

The tool called 'My Activity' launched in 2016 - which supersedes Google Search history and Google Web History — enables users to see and delete data tracked by Google through the Google account. The tool shows which websites were visited using Chrome while logged in, devices used, apps used, Google products interacted with, etc. All information is laid out in a timeline-like layout. Users can choose to entirely disable tracking, or remove certain activities which they don't want to be tracked.

Account blocking

Google may block an account for various reasons, such as "unusual activity" or entering an age "not old enough" to own a Google account. Reactivation is possible using web-forms, providing proof of identity through valid photo ID, or a credit card payment of US$0.30. Other methods (such as sending a

fax Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

or uploading some requested document) may require human interaction and may take some "days or a couple of weeks" to be accomplished.

References

External links