Create your Google profile ASAP.

[elfs]

Go to Google right now and type "me" into the search box. You'll be given a chance to secure your name as Google knows it, and create a profile, a starting point, which you can "encourage" Google to give to people rather than allowing them to hunt around randomly.

Comments

[bikerwalla.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm dismayed that their "verify your name" process doesn't work for me, because their offsite untraceable database doesn't have my current phone number, and I only have a debit card.

[(Anonymous)]

There also is this tiny little issue that this functionality seems to be strictly limited to people from the U.S.

Doing a search for "me" from any non-US IP simply does exactly that, searching for "me" without offering to create a Google Profile...

[hydrolagus.livejournal.com]

Doesn't change much for me. There's a real estate group that is The [myname] Team, and they take up most of the first three pages.

[maellenkleth]

I had no difficulty in forcing Google to switch me over to the American instance (google dot com) from my default setting (google dot co dot uk). Once there, I typed "google me" into the searchbox and it provided as first result the link to the Google Profiles programme.

So now, hopefully, if one types 'Elane Imgoven' into Google it will point to me, and to my work at ai-institute dot org. Yay for technology!

Thank you, Elf, you are a seriously good egg indeed!

Elane

[rhonan.livejournal.com]

One note is that if you are an iGoogle user, you will need to sign out to do this.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks for the tip. I was wondering why that didn't work for me at first. :-P

Thank you for the note on this.

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

I'd have missed it otherwise, took a bit of tinkering (I'd registered my non-google e-mail address for the Checkout Sandbox many months back, had to learn how to delete that account first of all things) but once again, thank you.

[anthologie.livejournal.com]

Huh. When I do this on my Android all I get are search results.

Thanks for the tip

[brandywilliams.livejournal.com]

I did - and made it work safe. I have also chosen *not* to make a Facebook profile - my coworkers report being found very quickly by each other and have had to lock down their accounts to friends only.