Google experiments with public search profile cards
Currently limited to India, the Google+-like feature gives personal brands and individuals some control over their own search results.
Why we care
If this feature receives a wider rollout, personal brands will have a new way to distinguish themselves on the search results, providing prospective clients or employers a way to find out more about them. This feature also provides personal brand owners with a degree of control over what information is available to searchers.
More on the news
- Google+, the company’s defunct social network, had a similar public profile feature when it launched in 2011.
- This new feature enables any user to search an individual’s name and view the information they choose to share, Android Police reported.
- Users must be signed into their own personal accounts to edit publically available information. Basic information, such as name, location, occupation and a personal summary are required. Photos and contact information, amongst other data fields, are optional.
- Android Police discovered the feature through three recently published Google Search support pages that have since been taken down.
- “In India, we have introduced and experimented with a number of tools to help people better manage their presence on Google Search,” a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land. “This is part of that continued experimentation, and we don’t have any launches to announce at this point.”
