Google Introduces ‘People Cards’ in India to Let You Build Your Public Profile for Search Engine

Google today launched “people cards” in India to let individuals create their profile on its search engine. The new feature that has been in testing in the country for a couple of years brings a virtual visiting cards-like experience to Google Search, where users can highlight their existing websites or social media profiles to detail their identity to the public. It uses Google's Knowledge Graph to display information provided by the users. Notably, you need to give your mobile number and require a Google Account to create your people card on Google Search.

Initially, Google has brought the people cards feature for mobile users. This means that you need to log in to your Google Account on your mobile device to create your public profile. Also, the new experience is available in English only for now, though other languages would be added in the future.

Lauren Clark, product manager, Google Search told Gadgets 360 that the people cards feature is limited to India for the time being, and there are no expansion plans to share right now.

“You may be wondering why we're launching this feature in India first,” said Clark in a briefing. “We are always looking for new ways to make search more useful for people, and we found that there were some unique information needs to India that we could help serve first.”

The prime purpose of people cards is to allow individuals to have a public profile on Google Search that will be displayed on top of all results. It was initially spotted as profile cards in February.

Google claims that with people cards, it is aiming to provide “helpful and reliable information” to the public. Thus, it gives the option to all users to flag abuse, impersonation, or even low-quality content, if they find anything odd through people cards. The search giant is also touting to have a combination of human review and automated techniques in place to flag policy violating content. Furthermore, only one people card is allowed per Google Account to limit fake profiles.

Individuals who have already created their cards on Google have the ability to opt-out of the experience anytime. In case of people who share the same name, Google Search will show multiple modules.

How to create your own people card on Google

To create your own people card, sign into your Google Account and search for “add me to Search”. You'll now see a prompt saying, “Add yourself to Google Search.” Tap that prompt and then you'll be asked to provide your phone number that will be verified through a six-digit unique code to begin the process.

Google Search allows you to create your own people card by searching "Add me to Search"

Now, Google will offer you a form to let you create your public profile by adding your location as well as a brief description about yourself and your occupation. You'll also get options to add details about your work, education, hometown, websites, and social media profiles.

In 2020, will WhatsApp get the killer feature that every Indian is waiting for? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.