Add Me to Search: Google Launches Virtual Business Cards

From the last two weeks, a term called People Card has created a buzz. What is a People Card anyway? People Card is the new feature launched by Google this August, 2020 in India. They are like visiting cards but digital, so people who have a People Card can ask others to Google them for information. For layman like us, how cool would it seem to say, “Oh! You can Google me!”

Google said People Card would give anyone and everyone recognition. It was majorly for influencers or entrepreneurs but anyone can use it. It is launched in India, and in English, for now, as they are testing this feature since February.

More Interesting Reads:
5 Reasons Why You Need Video in Your Marketing Strategy

5 PPC Trends to Get Ready for in 2021

3 Strategies For Elevating Your Content Marketing in 2021

“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,” Google said.

It appears when you search for a person on Google. A person can make his/her People Card by signing from his/her Google Account and then searching for “Add me to search” on Google search engine. It will show a dialogue box asking your details which you can fill. The details like, a display picture, a bio explaining what you do, occupation and basic details will be asked. Google will also ask them for mobile number and email for verification, but it is not necessary to share it publicly, and this information can be hidden. Google may ask for additional information for verification.

Sometimes, there can be the issues of having the same name as others, to solve this Google shows the results in modules and from there people can select who they were searching for.

It would be advised to people thought to not treat this as a certification from Google of authenticity, like those blue ticks on Instagram and Twitter. Though still if there is someone impersonating someone else, or fake information Google has provided certain measures to avoid that from happening. These measures include using only number with a single People Card, and if someone wants to opt out from it they can. Also, only one number can be used with People Card, which gives it validity to be not repeated again. The most appealing feature is the feedback option, for any impersonation or fake data you can use the feedback option for the People Card to be reported.

Steps to create a new People Card:

1. Type in your Google Search Engine “Add me to search”, top search comes up. Click on “Get Started”.
2. Once it opens, fill out your details. These details include required fields like Name, Location, About, Job. There will be additional fields as well, but you can fill them according to your needs. Once done with details, you can attach your social media profiles as well. All information is to be entered manually, only phone number and email are entered via Google. It is our choice to display information if we want to.
3. The only task after this is to preview the Card before it goes live. After it publishes you can view your card by searching your name on the search engine.

Though it is still early to say how this new feature is doing in the market, we sure love what benefits it has given us for this digital era.