Around April 21, Google made it very easy to get ranked on the first page for a vanity search (searching for your own name).If you don't already have a Google Profile, this might be the push you need to set it up. Do a vanity search (a search on your own name or someone else), you'll notice on the bottom of Google SERPs there is now a section for "Profiles Results". Google lists 4 profiles for the name searched plus links to search for the same name on MySpace, Facebook, Classmates and Linkedin. According to Google's "Search for Me on Google" blog post this is to help give you more control over what appears when someone searches for your name. While this may be true, another reason might be to help launch Google deeper into social networking. While the "Profile Results" are at the very bottom of the first page and Google is still displaying 10 organic listings above the new section, this might be what Google needed to get more people to complete their profiles. And you can snag a cool, custom Google URL for yourself. I was too late to get "/profiles/clarktaylor" so I went with /profiles/seotaylor.
Personally, I think the most important part of setting up a Google Profile is that you can add links to your websites, other social media profiles, Twitter page and blogs. If there is still value in inbound links (and most SEO experts will agree), then inbound links from Google can't hurt!
