‘Google’s Not the Only Game in Town’

So you’re curious to see what ever happened to your best friends from first grade, and you try Googling them, and you get a hundred false leads.  Happens all the time. Gina Trapani, who edits Lifehacker.com, has posted a feature called "How to Track Down Anyone Online."  It’s an interesting read, and it’s to be found HERE. Top of her list is ZabaSearch.com, which says it draws on public databases to find names, addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers — both listed and unlisted.  Trapani says she finds it "creepily comprehensive," with data from phone books, court records and everything in between. She also likes Pipl.com, which says it searches the "deep Web" to find names, locations, publications, etc., that conventional search engines miss.  Think of all the pages out there that are "dynamic" (constantly changing), or password-protected, or don’t have other pages linking to them — Pipl tries to find them.  Pipl cites a White Paper by Michael K. Bergman in the Journal of Electronic Publishing from 2001, estimating that "Public information on the deep Web is currently 400 to 550 times larger than the commonly defined World Wide Web." There’s more — ZoomInfo for business links and bios, Wink for social networking sites, Intelius if you want someone’s criminal record, and–wait a minute, do you really want to know your friend’s criminal record? Potential employers do all the time, of course.  The question, so often when you wander into privacy issues, is whether the information is accurate, or in context, or pertinent. ZoomInfo has a disclaimer: "This information has not been verified," and a place to click "this is me" so that you can register for free and correct the record.  "So, why would I want to be found on ZoomInfo anyway?" the site asks.  It answers, "Let opportunities find you! Millions of people use ZoomInfo to find old friends, colleagues, business associates and talent. And since ZoomInfo profiles show up in Google, Yahoo! and other search results, having a ZoomInfo profile allows you to increase your visibility on the Web and to control your personal brand by creating an accurate, up-to-date Web profile that can be found all in one place and edited regularly. Allow colleagues, recruiters and job opportunities to find you. Update your profile today!" I tried a little experiment: I looked up one of my best friends from first grade, whom I’ll call Bill.  I moved after second grade and lost touch with him. ZabaSearch found 38 of him around the country.  ZoomInfo found three, all in the same place in Utah.  Pipl found 15, two of whom had pages on MySpace (one was 18, the other 22, and both said they were straight).  He had published a number of medical articles on HIV/AIDS.  There was a link to what seemed to be a conservative website that didn’t like him, and to a liberal one that didn’t like him either. Pipl found Bill’s "wish list" on Amazon.com; he seems to be into mountain biking.  All this made me feel a bit of regret for the friendship I let slip away, but I don’t think I’ll call him.  Pipl linked me to FindAGrave.com, which reported that Bill died in 1510.