For those whose careers rest on being discoverable or well-known—whether its in delivering professional services or being an influencer or a marketer—there is no alternative to appearing in Google search results.
While all of us at some point have Googled our own names, it is the case that till now only the famous get their biodata displayed at the very top of search results. Now, Google has introduced ‘People cards’ which will allow anyone to set up a basic biodata and profile for themselves which will display when their names are searched for in Google.
“If you’re a business professional, performer, or anyone looking to build up your own online presence, you might have a website, social profiles, and other information spread across many sites. If you’re just getting started, you may not have a website or much of an online presence at all,” Google India said in a blog post.
“Today, we are solving these challenges with a new feature called people cards. It’s like a virtual visiting card, where you can highlight your existing website or social profiles you want people to visit, plus other information about yourself that you want others to know,” the company said.
Creating a people card is as easy as typing “Add me to search” into the Google search bar from your mobile device (at the time of publishing, doing so via the Chrome browser on a desktop did not result in the correct option—Google says the feature has rolled out for “people in India searching on mobile phones”).
The cards can contain a person’s name, profession and location. You are also prompted to input other details about yourself if you would like. In order to prevent abuse, only one card can be made per person and a phone number is required to authenticate the account.
Of course, in India and around the world, many people share the same name. What happens then?
“For people who share the same name, you’ll see multiple modules, and the information can help you distinguish between the different individuals to find who you’re looking for,” Google said in the post.
