My Google Knowledge Panel now gives more importance to my limited Google Scholar profile and ignores my current main role of blogger/social media writer

Last updated on 5th Sept. 2021

5th Sept. 2021 Update: My GKP has now changed. Please see my post: Good to see my Google Knowledge Panel drop my Google Scholar profile and show my Facebook profile,  https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2021/09/good-to-see-google-knowledge-panel-de.html , 5th Sept. 2021.

One of my learnings over the past decade or so that I have been a blogger/social media writer on a variety of topics, is that people and entities form opinions about my main work/role based on which writings/posts of mine they feel are important. That may or may not match how I view my current main work/role.

Google Knowledge Panel had earlier used my Notion Press profile, https://notionpress.com/author/164025 , as the source for the description they put up about me. As I have created that profile, I was able to provide a fairly accurate description of my current work/role: "social media writer (blogs and Facebook) mainly on spirituality and religion, but also on worldly topics covering ...". https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2021/02/google-knowledge-panel-for-my-name-ravi.html has a Feb. 2021 screenshot of my Google Knowledge Panel where my Notion Press profile data was used.

But now Google Knowledge Panel has added my Google Scholar Profile in its list of profiles in my Knowledge Panel. Earlier it had only my Twitter profile listed.

Note that I have set up my Twitter profile to reflect my current role/work: "Writer on spirituality & religion as well as worldly matters ..."

However, Google Knowledge Panel has picked up my Google Scholar profile, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kg3JHKYAAAAJ , as the ***only*** source for the description in my Google Knowledge Panel (GKP)! So my description in my GKP is "Research interests: Software Development Education". See below pics.

[To open pic in larger resolution, right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]

Above pic: Google Search window showing results as well as Knowledge Panel for search on my name (I picked up my name entry from the drop-down showing my name as I typed in my name). Screenshot taken on 22nd June 2021.

Above pic: Only Google Knowledge Panel part of earlier screenshot pic (dated 22nd June 2021)

Google Knowledge Panel link: https://g.co/kgs/HxytVU

The description of "Research interests: Software Development Education" is not wrong but it is a past research interest area for me. I am no longer active in that space!

Now my key work is writing on blogs & Facebook with my Tweets usually being links to my blog posts.

Some weeks ago (prior to Google picking up my Google Scholar profile and changing my description to that profile), I had written to Google Knowledge Panel folks about adding three of my blog/blogpost links in the profiles list: https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/p/about-ravi-s-iyer.html (About me page on my main spiritual blog), https://iami1.wordpress.com/ (another key spiritual blog of mine) and https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/ (my main worldly topics blog). 

Note that I have successfully claimed my Google Knowledge Panel and so have the facility to "Suggest an edit" to Google Knowledge Panel folks. I had to make the above suggestion within a particular mechanism that Google provides for such change suggestions. I don't recall it clearly but I think I had to suggest changing my Twitter profile (removing it) and replacing it with the above 3 blog/blogpost links. I mean, as mentioned earlier, my Twitter work is usually announcing my blog posts. So I think my blogs are certainly more important than my tweets. 

A few days back, on 18th Jun. 2021, I received a rejection email from Google for my above suggested changes. The below screenshot shows that mail.

I am not eager to write to Google Knowledge Panel folks again asking them to use Notion Press profile description (as was the case earlier) instead of Google Scholar profile description, for my Google Knowledge Panel description. I mean, it is tough to get through to those folks on these matters.

I must also mention that when my Google Knowledge Panel was showing somebody else's pic as me, I informed them of the error and they accepted my point and changed the pic to my pic.

But I think the description part is more sensitive. I think Google folks want to decide what the description should be, based on data about me that they have (in Google search database), and are not really interested in me telling them what the description part should say.

At least for the time being, I think I am going to live with how Google Knowledge Panel folks view me, being the basis for their description about me. Perhaps for them, my Google Scholar profile is more important than my book publisher's (Notion Press) author profile or my Twitter profile or the About Me page on my blog(s) [I have only one About Me page on one of my blogs, with all of my blogs pointing to that page].