Add me to Search: Google launches People Cards in India to make users more visible online

For people who want to be found online more easily, on Google Search at least, you don’t really need to be a celebrity. Google has launched People Cards, which are virtual visiting cards, that will help users pop up faster on searches.

Users can create a virtual visiting card on Search and highlight information like their existing website, social profiles, location etc, and even a phone number and email address if they want - basically, anything you want others to know about you, publicly, goes on the card. (Google )

You don't have to be famous to turn up higher on people list on Google Search anymore. Google has launched People Cards, which are virtual visiting cards of sorts, that can help you be found online more easily.

For people who want to be found online more easily, on Google Search at least, you don't really need to be a celebrity. Google has launched People Cards, which are virtual visiting cards, that will help users pop up faster on searches.

Users can create a virtual visiting card on Search and highlight information like their existing website, social profiles, location etc, and even a phone number and email address if they want - basically, anything you want others to know about you, publicly, goes on the card.

🆕 Introducing the people card on Google Search.

Showcase your business, passion or portfolio when people search for you on Google.

Get started ➡️ https://t.co/CAm3mRiCgM pic.twitter.com/wPx6GIUdWz

— Google India (@GoogleIndia) August 11, 2020

You don't have to be famous to turn up higher on people list on Google Search anymore. Google has launched People Cards, which are virtual visiting cards of sorts, that can help you be found online more easily.

For people who want to be found online more easily, on Google Search at least, you don't really need to be a celebrity. Google has launched People Cards, which are virtual visiting cards, that will help users pop up faster on searches.

Users can create a virtual visiting card on Search and highlight information like their existing website, social profiles, location etc, and even a phone number and email address if they want - basically, anything you want others to know about you, publicly, goes on the card.

People Cards are meant to help people like influencers, entrepreneurs, freelancers, self-employed people, people looking for jobs etc, all those who want and need to be more ‘easily discovered'. Starting today itself, users in India can create their own People Cards and can also see other people's cards on their smartphones.

This feature is only available on Google Search on your smartphones for now and its is not available on the web. Cards are also only available in English for now, more language support will be rolled out over time.

How do you create a card?

- Creating a People Card is very simple. You need to be signed into your Google account before you begin.

- You can then search for your name on Google Search or type in - “Add me to Search”.

- The very first prompt you will get is to add yourself on Google Search and you can go ahead from there to creating your card.

- Choose an image (if you want), add a description, add links to your websites and social profiles and also a phone number and email ID (again, if you want). And that's it. You are good to go.

Each user is allowed only one People Card and this card must be authenticated with the user’s Google account and a unique phone number. (Google )

Each user is allowed only one People Card and this card must be authenticated with the user’s Google account and a unique phone number. (Google )

How are these People Cards protected?

Google has put in a bunch of controls and protections in place to ensure correct and reliable information is on the cards and also to protect users from abusive and offensive content.

Each user is allowed only one People Card and this card must be authenticated with the user's Google account and a unique phone number. Users will also have complete control of the information on their cards and can remove/delete anything at any time. You can also opt out of the experience entirely - this will stop your card from showing up in search.

There is also a feedback button available on cards that can be used to report low-quality information or a card that might have been created by an impersonator.

But what happens when a user has a common name?

In a country of at least a billion people, it's highly likely that you might just share your name with another individual. So if you both have People Cards, how can they be differentiated?

When you search for someone on Google Search, if he/she has a People Card, it will turn up as a module with the name, profession and location information displayed. Also, there is the picture on the card. Those searching for it can then click on the right card by sifting through this information.

Even if you do not have a picture on your People Card, your profession and location should help others narrow it down form the unique information on the modules. For people sharing the same names, multiple modules will show up when searched for and all you need to do is zero in on one information (location or profession or both) and find the person you are looking for.

People Cards has been tested in India for a few years now, said Lauren Clark, Product Manager, Google Search. And it's officially rolled out today. 

Speaking about why India is one of the first places where People Cards have been rolled out, Clark explained that it was much more common for people in India to search for non-prominent people's names compared to other reasons. Secondly, and perhaps related, Google also understood through their research that there are a lot of individuals in India who are sole proprietors or trying to build an online presence for the first time.

Clark also added that this feature was being launched in India because people here have an ‘affinity' towards searching for their own names on Google.

“To meet these unique needs, we developed this feature first for India, and have been testing this over the past couple of years to ensure we're providing a helpful feature,” she said.