The Internet has its share of cesspools, but few of them have been as vile as the YouTube comments section.

Last September, Google announced that it was going to clean up its sewage and overhaul YouTube's (News - Alert) comments. The new comments section, said Google, would squelch some of the animosity and allow commenters to start conversations under their video of choice. Comments would be ranked by relevance, which would be determined by who posted the comment, whether it started any non-venomous conversations and whether members gave the comment a +1.

Now, Google (News - Alert) has started rolling out the update, but it comes with a big, plus sign-shaped asterisk. Anyone who wants to comment on a YouTube video now has to have a Google+ account. Posted comments will bear users' names and profile pics, unless the users can find the anonymity settings buried deep within YouTube's settings.

The change has sparked outrage among YouTube users, many of who have posted videos to vent their frustrations:

On one hand, attacking anonymity is one of the keys to reducing online vitriol. For example, The Huffington Post (News - Alert) took the step of banning anonymous comments a few months ago.

As Arianna Huffington said, "Trolls have become more and more aggressive and uglier. Now we want to go a step further to evolve our platform—which has always been about community and engagement—to meet the needs of the grown-up Internet."

On the other hand, YouTube users seem to resent the Google+ signup requirement. For Google, requiring signup is a no-brainer way to boost usage, or at least the appearance of usage, of its Google+ social network. For YouTube viewers with no interest in Google+, it's viewed as an onerous requirement.

Google will ultimately win. After all, with over 100 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, the online video hub isn't exactly hurting for loyal users. YouTube users will grumble, but they will adapt. Only time will tell whether they start to actually use Google+.