Google to Let 'Plus' Users Contact Any Gmail User

Watch out, Gmail users: You may soon see messages in your inbox from people you don't know. Google is rolling out a feature over the next few days that will allow any Google+ user to send an email to any Gmail user who is also on Google+, even if the two people don't know each other, the New York Times reports. "They have to add you to their Circles first, but that's a formality," notes Chris Taylor on Mashable, because it doesn't involve getting your approval. Needless to say, the move has been met with criticism, despite the fact that the sender will only see your email address if you reply to the message.

"You can choose to opt out of this feature, of course," writes Taylor. "But we know how this movie ends: Millions of users will be too busy, or they'll miss the opt-out email, and the first they'll know about it is when they get a message from some guy they met at a conference once, someone they didn't give their email address to for a reason." Google will be notifying Gmail users of the change via email, and the emails will be routed to the Social tab. But if you want to opt out now, go to the General tab on your Gmail Settings page and select "No One" in the "Email via Google+" section. (More Google stories.)