Google has recently announced the extension of their new mobile-only people search feature to Africa that makes people more discoverable on Google Search, starting in December 2020. The Peoples Card, like a virtual card, enables individuals to create their presence on the internet search engine by providing existing social accounts and personal information about themselves they want to be shared with the public.
According to Olumide Balogun, Head of Consumer Apps, Sub Saharan Africa at Google, “Google’s mission has always been to organize information and make it useful and accessible, and we’re now providing a new way – for people who want to be found – to organize information about themselves, right on Search, on their mobile phones.”
Google account users are allowed only one profile card per account and phone number for authentication with the possibility of reporting account security issues using a direct feedback link on the software.
Individuals with the same name are also provided with information modules that help to distinguish their profiles. Following the initial launch of the software in India, it is now available in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.