Making it easier for people to build an online presence and discover others, Google announced a new feature on Search called people cards. With this search experience, users can now create a virtual visiting card on Search, highlight their existing website or social profiles, and complement it with information about themselves they would like others to know. The new feature is aimed at helping the millions of individuals, influencers, entrepreneurs, prospective employees, self-employed people, freelancers, or anyone else out there who wants to be discovered and help the world find them. Starting today, users across India can discover the people cards on their mobile phones, in English.
Creating a people card is easy. First, sign into your Google Account, search for your name, or “add me to Search” and tap the prompt that appears. To start building your people card, people can choose to include the image from their respective Google account, add a description of themselves, links to their website or social profiles, and, if they want, even a phone number or email address.
To make sure people find helpful and reliable information, Google has put together a variety of protections and controls to maintain the quality of information on people cards. The safeguards include mechanisms to protect against abusive or offensive content, and limiting the experience with only one people card allowed per Google Account. For every new card, the user must authenticate the account with a unique mobile number. The user will have complete control on the information to be included on the card and can opt-out of the experience anytime, which will stop their details from appearing in search. Besides, the feedback button can be used to identify and report low-quality information or a card that they believe was created by an impersonator.
It’s not always easy to find a person — after all, many people share the same name, and it’s hard to know who’s who on the internet. For those looking to find someone on Search, these new cards make it quick and easy to find the right person. When a user searches for someone’s name and the card is available, they’ll see a module with the name, profession, and location, which users can tap to see their card. For people who share the same name, the Search will show multiple modules, and the unique information can help users distinguish between different individuals to find accurate information.
