{"id":1318,"date":"2025-12-18T09:45:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T04:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/?p=1318"},"modified":"2025-12-16T16:28:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T10:58:03","slug":"google-people-cards-discontinu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happened to Google People Cards? Rise, Fall, and Impact on Digital Visibility"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google then introduced a new feature in August 2020, which is available mostly in emerging markets such as India, called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/google-to-remove-add-me-to-search-people-cards-in-april\/510669\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>Google People Cards<\/strong><\/a> (also called the Add Me to Search feature). The idea behind the vision was groundbreaking: to enable people to build their own <strong>Digital Business Card<\/strong>, see it right in the search results of Google, which could be regarded as a mini-<strong>Knowledge Panel<\/strong> created by the user.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Entrepreneurs, freelancers, and influencers were excited. However, the feature was soon retired, and Google announced this after a brief and successful run. The question that every <strong>digital marketer<\/strong> and an individual who is concerned with<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/digital-marketing-services.php\"><strong> personal branding<\/strong><\/a> would ask is: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/google-to-remove-add-me-to-search-people-cards-in-april\/510669\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>What has happened to Google People Cards<\/strong><\/a>, and, more crucially, what will replace this tool to achieve dominance in search results?<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/#The_Rise_How_Google_People_Cards_Changed_Search\" title=\"The Rise: How Google People Cards Changed Search\">The Rise: How Google People Cards Changed Search<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/#A_Virtual_Visiting_Card\" title=\"A Virtual Visiting Card\">A Virtual Visiting Card<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/#The_Digital_Identity_Impact\" title=\"The Digital Identity Impact\">The Digital Identity Impact<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/#The_Fall_The_Reason_the_Feature_was_dropped\" title=\"The Fall: The Reason the Feature was dropped\">The Fall: The Reason the Feature was dropped<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/#The_Pivot_of_SEO_and_Personal_Branding_Post-People_Card\" title=\"The Pivot of SEO and Personal Branding (Post-People Card)\">The Pivot of SEO and Personal Branding (Post-People Card)<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/#The_Strength_of_the_Personal_Website\" title=\"The Strength of the Personal Website\">The Strength of the Personal Website<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/#Professional_Profile_Optimization_The_Core_Links\" title=\"Professional Profile Optimization (The Core Links)\">Professional Profile Optimization (The Core Links)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/#The_Authority_and_Earned_Media_Power\" title=\"The Authority and Earned Media Power\">The Authority and Earned Media Power<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/google-people-cards-discontinu\/#Legacy_and_Lessons_Learned\" title=\"Legacy and Lessons Learned\">Legacy and Lessons Learned<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Rise_How_Google_People_Cards_Changed_Search\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Rise: How Google People Cards Changed Search<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The introduction of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/google-to-remove-add-me-to-search-people-cards-in-april\/510669\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>Google People Cards<\/strong><\/a> was aimed at addressing a major issue, especially in areas where most professionals lacked or had a poor digital presence.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Virtual_Visiting_Card\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Virtual Visiting Card<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The People Card was a digital profile, which the user could use to authenticate their identity with a mobile number and fill in the fields such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Name, Place of residence, and Work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A brief &#8220;About Me&#8221; section<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Connection to websites, social profiles, and other important media.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The card was tailored to come out at the top of the Google search when an individual searched the name of the person. It was a breakthrough, particularly to those with common names who were able to now stand out and grab a high-ranking presence.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Digital_Identity_Impact\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Digital Identity Impact<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The aspect was an enormous <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/digital-marketing-services.php\"><strong>personal branding<\/strong><\/a> advancement. It offered an easy way of searching recognition that did not involve the old, tricky demands of creating a website and learning SEO. To millions of people, it provided some instant credibility and one source of truth for their professional information. The People Card was used temporarily as the least complicated method of making sure that the links and information of an individual appeared on the first page of the search results (SERP).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Fall_The_Reason_the_Feature_was_dropped\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Fall: The Reason the Feature was dropped<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it was popular, especially in launch markets such as India, South Africa, and Nigeria, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/google-to-remove-add-me-to-search-people-cards-in-april\/510669\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>Google officially shut down Google People Cards on April 7, 2024.<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1319\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1319\" class=\"wp-image-1319 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Title-50-300x169.png\" alt=\"Google People Cards shutdown showing rise, fall, and impact on digital visibility\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1319\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Google People Cards shut down and its impact on online visibility.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The explanation given by Google was that the feature was not of use to the people as much as they would have imagined. Nonetheless, the reasons the retirement gives are probably the technical and logistical difficulties:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Complexity of Identity Verification:<\/strong> It is extremely complicated to scale a feature based on the authentication of Digital Identity on a global scale. Although the authentication of phone numbers was mandatory, combating spam, abuse, and impersonation was a wicked waste of resources for Google.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Smartphone-only limited global adoption:<\/strong> The feature itself did not see widespread use beyond its original test markets, which restricted its overall usefulness to the global search engine.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>The Knowledge Graph Overlap:<\/strong> The Knowledge Panel system, which Google currently utilizes to display authority figures and brands, started overlapping its existing power with the function of the People Card. Self-curation of a card by the users probably caused discrepancies in the internal authority pointers of Google.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The shutdown was a bitter lesson to the marketers that it is dangerous to be dependent on a single, non-core platform feature. Google is continuously appraising and discarding tools that fail to deliver sufficient, scalable value to shift funds to more useful projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Pivot_of_SEO_and_Personal_Branding_Post-People_Card\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Pivot of SEO and Personal Branding (Post-People Card)<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The death of the <strong>Google People Cards<\/strong> option implies that marketers and individuals have to revert to the conventional, <strong>long-term SEO options<\/strong> in order to gain online presence. In the case of the <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/\"><strong>best digital marketing company in Delhi<\/strong><\/a>, such as <strong>National Marketing Projects<\/strong>, this change highlights the importance of having your online space.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Strength_of_the_Personal_Website\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Strength of the Personal Website<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The final non-negotiable option is the personal website or portfolio. It provides full control of branding, content, as well as data.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>SEO Strategy to be followed:<\/strong> Add the <strong>Schema Markup<\/strong> (Person and ProfessionalService schema) to your About Me page. It is this organized information that makes Google recognize you as an entity, and this is the process that you will need the <strong>Knowledge Panel<\/strong> (which the People Card was mocking) in time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Content Authority:<\/strong> Post thought leadership content, case studies, and a powerful professional bio on your site.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Professional_Profile_Optimization_The_Core_Links\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Professional Profile Optimization (The Core Links)<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As far as you can not rely on an <strong>Add Me to Search<\/strong> card to list your links, you have to maximize on the links that Google does prioritize:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>LinkedIn Mastery:<\/strong> Make sure you have optimized your LinkedIn profile with your desired job title and location. <a href=\"https:\/\/in.linkedin.com\/?mcid=6844056167778418689&amp;src=go-pa&amp;trk=sem-ga_campid.14650114788_asid.151761418467_crid.657403558724_kw.linkedin%20professional%20networking_d.c_tid.kwd-922603422610_n.g_mt.e_geo.9061699&amp;cid=&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=14650114788&amp;gbraid=0AAAAABKX7wEIXeI8vRJ-YBqKRQR4lJ3fL&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAo4TKBhDRARIsAGW29bc5AmOTolwcU6SgeOjWh0gVToEvUWuzS-vm4wGOp2tFH3LvRunbLE8aAlyXEALw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a> profiles are often top in name searches.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Credible Directories:<\/strong> Get your profiles on high Domain Authority sites related to your industry (e.g., industry-related organizations, university directories).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Unified NAP\/Citations:<\/strong> Use the same Name, Address, Phone, and Credentials (NAP\/C) on all platforms.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Authority_and_Earned_Media_Power\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Authority and Earned Media Power<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to gain a real digital presence, you need to possess authority and trustworthiness (E-A-T).<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Guest Posting:<\/strong> Post valuable articles to the well-known publications in the industry with the referrals back to your own site. Such high authority backlinks are indicators of relevance to Google.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Speaking Engagements:<\/strong> Post the profile of your speaking engagements, interviews, and mentions in the media on your site. Google considers these cues to be evidence of Expertise and Authority.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Legacy_and_Lessons_Learned\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Legacy and Lessons Learned<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The experiment of the <strong>Google People Cards<\/strong> taught me a lesson on the dynamic quality of the digital marketing environment. It showed how Google is ready to make experiments, especially to fill the accessibility gaps in emerging markets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The moral of the story is that being the master of your own presence is the sole long-term plan to<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/digital-marketing-services.php\"> <strong>digital marketing success<\/strong><\/a>, and<strong> having a presence<\/strong> that is well-established and credible in terms of its content is the only key to such dominance. Functionalities come and go, however, the good old <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/digital-marketing-services.php\"><strong>Digital Visibility<\/strong><\/a>, with the principles of SEO, is the most sure way of taking control over your narrative and to make sure that your clients can always find you.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google then introduced a new feature in August 2020, which is available mostly in emerging markets such as India, called Google People Cards (also called the Add Me to Search <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1321,"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318\/revisions\/1321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalmarketingprojects.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}