Olivia Culpo landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated! A couple years ago, I visited Simon Huck’s pop-up in New York and stood *thisclose* to her at the entrance, but didn’t take a picture because I didn’t know who she was. When I saw that she landed a major magazine cover, I decided to Google her and then I uncovered an amazing feature that you probably haven’t heard about called Cameos on Google.
If you Google Olivia Culpo on your phone – this feature only works on mobile – you’ll see there’s a section near the top called Top Questions Answered. Olivia’s Google results feature 5 short videos of her answering questions. For example, she says that she stays in shape by running. They’re filmed in different locations, she looks beautiful in all of them and they’re quick snippets, which are perfect for our attention span.
I usually learn about celebrities by reading their Wikipedia page, but this is way more fun! And shorter than watching a TV interview with them on YouTube. After I found this on Olivia’s Google page, I looked for more information. Apparently this has been around for 2.5 years, so why haven’t I heard about it before? I love it!
My next step was to watch other celebrities who filmed videos when the feature launched like Tracee Ellis Ross and Will Ferrell. More great content. This got me thinking…
Wouldn’t it be cool if someone Googled you and immediately saw a video of you introducing yourself? I’ve written about how you need a landing page like a personal website in addition to a social media presence. This seems like it would be a great addition to your personal branding toolkit. Someone could see you and hear you before they click any links. What could be a better traffic driver to your channels than a funny video of you answering popular questions? Sometimes people claim “I got so many questions about this, so now I’m going to share…”, well Cameos on Google give you the opportunity to answer real questions that real people are asking!
This feature seems to have major growth opportunities. Now that everyone is stuck at home, it seems like the perfect time for Google to let more people film Cameos, whether they’re famous or not. There are so many celebrities who have not done this yet and their fans would love it! It seems like it’s easy to produce too. All you need is a phone, good lighting and a decent background! Shortly after finding Cameos on Google, Google announced they’re launching people cards. This brings us one step closer to what I was talking about, except for the video Q&A. Google is starting to offer people cards in India and I can’t wait until it comes to Canada!
Hopefully Google will consider revisiting this feature. It has lots of potential for celebrities to engage with fans, as well as influencers or entrepreneurs who are eager to grow their brand. However, another consideration for Google is how they would moderate Cameos if they made them less exclusive. Cameos on Google is currently available to download on the App Store and Google Play, so there’s still hope!