I like to follow updates to the Google Knowledge Graph to see how the Big G decides to display entity information, interpret schema data, and showcase local businesses.
I’ve noticed a recent refresh in the graph which has updated the social profiles for prominent celebrities. I first discovered this while digging through well-known musicians. As a big fan of music, I like to get a biographical or history lesson as I check out entity information for various people.
I’ve been following a few of these entities and noticed that many of them have had a LinkedIn profile added to their social list.
Problem is, they are often completely wrong!
Let’s start with the first one I discovered, Lars Ulrich of Metallica. I had been following his profile for some time as he only recently came on social media in some cases, particularly Twitter, which was the only profile that showed for some time. Recently, a LinkedIn and Instagram profile appeared, but LinkedIn is totally wrong:
Curious, I checked out a few other musicians. James Hetfield, also of Metallica, has the same issue (most likely). He is noticeably absent on social media, so this LinkedIn profile is almost assuredly wrong and pulled from nowhere:
His profile seems more real, but I don’t think he has ever had a significant history in Chicago. I could be wrong, but I think this is another mistake.
Let’s look at a few more that are clearly incorrect:
Mick Jagger
Dave Mustaine
Keith Urban
And now for the finale…Donald Trump.
As you can see, Google seems to have implemented some sort of “attempt” at guessing or possibly using an API to display what they think is the LinkedIn profile for prominent individuals.
You can try this search for a number of famous people outside of music, and you’ll get the same issue.
Most of the time, it’s not even close!
Need an internet marketing consultant to review your brand online? Contact me today!