Google Adds Knowledge Card Quotes for Famous People, Including Authors and Celebrities

Google is adding knowledge cards containing quotes to their search results when someone searches for a famous person’s name plus the keyword “quotes.”

They seem to come up for a wide variety of names, including historical and political figures as well as authors.

Here is an example for J.R.R. Tolkien, which pulls heavily from quotes from his books.

They are also coming up for celebrity searches too.  Here is one for Brad Pitt.

There are some instances where questionable language is used.  For example, in the Brad Pitt quotes, one of them is “Fame is a bitch, man.”  It also showed up when safe search was turned on, although safe search primarily targets inappropriate images and search results.

Not all of them have enough quotes to merit an expanding box.  Here is one for Harrison Ford that does not expand.

As with author’s quotes containing quotes from their books, the same applies to celebrities as well.  For example, the “Nothing shocks me” quote for Harrison Ford was actually a line from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

It is worth noting that they are only coming up for specific people, so if you are looking for quotes around a topic, event or even a book, these don’t seem to come up.

If an AdWords ad appears in the same search results, the ad will appear above the box.  Here is one for Stephen Hawking with an ad.

It is not clear where the quotes are sourced from, as there is no attribution given.  However, it is likely from either a public database or one that Google has a license to reproduce in the search results.

Google OS was the first to spot the addition.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post

Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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