Using Search Engines to Find People for Free!
Posted: Friday, September 07, 2007
by Laura Trahan
Whether your husband is having an affair or you are looking for an old classmate or long lost family member, free people search is a hot topic on the Internet. With today's technology, it only makes sense that one should be able to locate someone at the click of the button.
Unfortunately there are quite a few sites out their preying on your desire to find that special someone and will lure you in by advertising free search and then drop the bomb on you about the cost for the needed information.
It is possible to find some pretty detailed information by using the Major Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN. For those who are into Internet research and have the extra time to wade through some pages, there are some other options as well. Let’s look at how to search the major engines to find what you are looking for free.
Google has an awesome search component that lets you get addresses and phone numbers of a person by typing in the person’s name and their city and state. It is like an online phonebook. It then takes it a step further and provides a map to their house. Don’t get alarmed, however, people can request to be removed from this list.
There are also all kinds of theories about how to get the best search results. My suggestion is to click on Google’s advanced search option and go through each preference. Obviously, the more information you have on an individual, the easier it will be to find. Put it all in, Google has the programming in place to do the work for you.
Google ignores common words and characters such as where, the, how, and other digits and letters which slow down your search without improving the results. Google indicates if a word has been excluded by displaying details on the results page below the search box. If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a + sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the + sign.) To find pages that include either of two search terms, add an uppercase OR between the terms. You can use Google to search only within one specific website by entering the search terms you're looking for, followed by the word site and a colon followed by the domain name.
Sometimes the best way to ask a question is to get Google to 'fill in the blank' for you. You can do this by adding an asterisk "*" in the part of the sentence or question that you want filled in. For example, you would type in the search box: the inventor of searchwarp is *. Google is not case sensitive, so it does not see capital letters. Sometimes you'll only want results that include an exact phrase. In this case, simply put quotation marks around your search terms. Google also has topic specific searches so if you need to search for government records, this is your free opportunity to do so.
There are also all kinds of theories about how to get the best search results. My suggestion is to click on Google’s advanced search option and go through each preference. Obviously, the more information you have on an individual, the easier it will be to find. Put it all in, Google has the programming in place to do the work for you.
Google ignores common words and characters such as where, the, how, and other digits and letters which slow down your search without improving the results. Google indicates if a word has been excluded by displaying details on the results page below the search box. If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a + sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the + sign.) To find pages that include either of two search terms, add an uppercase OR between the terms. You can use Google to search only within one specific website by entering the search terms you're looking for, followed by the word site and a colon followed by the domain name.
Sometimes the best way to ask a question is to get Google to 'fill in the blank' for you. You can do this by adding an asterisk "*" in the part of the sentence or question that you want filled in. For example, you would type in the search box: the inventor of searchwarp is *. Google is not case sensitive, so it does not see capital letters. Sometimes you'll only want results that include an exact phrase. In this case, simply put quotation marks around your search terms. Google also has topic specific searches so if you need to search for government records, this is your free opportunity to do so.
So for example, you would type in the search box:
john doe dover delaware
Do not worry about upper and lower case letters-Google won't see them. Also, if you are positive he lives in Dover, Delaware and you want them to search for the phrase john doe, add the quotation marks before and after. Then you can add the plus sign to search for Dover, Delaware as well.
"john doe" + dover + delaware
Yahoo!
Yahoo! is pretty much like Google. The same rules apply when you search. A bonus is that they offer their own free people search by name, city, email or reverse phone number. It is easier to find as opposed to just typing into the search box. Go to people.yahoo.com for the free service. This is a great service because it actually allows you to look up emails as well.
Yahoo!
Yahoo! is pretty much like Google. The same rules apply when you search. A bonus is that they offer their own free people search by name, city, email or reverse phone number. It is easier to find as opposed to just typing into the search box. Go to people.yahoo.com for the free service. This is a great service because it actually allows you to look up emails as well.
MSN
Honestly, MSN is hit and miss. I don’t think it is as easy to find someone on this site, but sometimes you can find additional information that the two above mentioned sites tend to overlook. My suggestion is if you can’t find it on the two above more than likely you can’t find it, but try MSN as well. Put in as much information as possible to see what comes up.
Obviously, all of these suggestions depend on how much information you have to start out with. If you are searching for someone common such as John Smith be prepared to have to sift through a lot of bad results. The other suggestions I have that are mostly free are to look at classmates if you know where they went to school. Also check out myspace to see if they have a profile, depending on their age-you never know what you will find. Also if they have a yahoo address that you know you can also look at their profile through messenger and send messages.
Honestly, MSN is hit and miss. I don’t think it is as easy to find someone on this site, but sometimes you can find additional information that the two above mentioned sites tend to overlook. My suggestion is if you can’t find it on the two above more than likely you can’t find it, but try MSN as well. Put in as much information as possible to see what comes up.
Obviously, all of these suggestions depend on how much information you have to start out with. If you are searching for someone common such as John Smith be prepared to have to sift through a lot of bad results. The other suggestions I have that are mostly free are to look at classmates if you know where they went to school. Also check out myspace to see if they have a profile, depending on their age-you never know what you will find. Also if they have a yahoo address that you know you can also look at their profile through messenger and send messages.
The bottom line is people search can be free dependent on what information you need and how much information you currently have on the person. If it is just a phone number or new email or reverse phone look up, chances are you can get that info using the major search engines. Otherwise, if a person wants to not be found or you have little information, you might have to spend the big bucks.
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More commentspipl was helpful to me it does give addresss and some civil info on the person and if they have myspace and facebook ect it is free, got futher this way they any other sightsGlad you were able to find some information!
my son is looking for his dad .paid 4 a site and they ripped him off. so who can be trusted. if your gona have this site then ppl need to be honest,but that is not always the case.Sorry Audrey about your son! I agree some people are just evil. I hope he was able to find his father! Be careful always giving money over the internet. Thanks for sharing your warning!
There is a Real Free People Search site! I found it at FreePeopleSearch You get Name, age, address, phone, photos (sometimes) provided to you for free!
There is one small hoop you have to jump through, you have to sign-u for a free reunion account to unlock access but it's all free. There are links to paid services if you want more (like neighbors etc)Thanks for the tip!
I have been looking for a friend for a long time tried all the search engines no answer of course all of them want a " " fee and are supposed to be free is there really a free site where i can find my long lost friend Jose (California)Did you try facebook or myspace? they can be of great help! Hope you find him!
It's true. Nothing in life is free. Not even when it says it is. What a pity that we continue to use sights that lie. I spent 6 solid days on the net trying the liars and got nowhere. Good luck to others who are in the same boat.Thanks for the warning!!
yes lets see what it could do for me.......hope it worked out! thanks for commenting!
How do you find someone that lives in a nursing home or possibly a retirement home? I'm trying to find my aunt, but I'm not getting anywhere. Is there anyway that I can find her without having to pay? How do you get a list of residents of those places? If you call them, they won't give out any information? So, what do I do to find her?
I have been looking for my cousins for what seems FOREVER also some friends my husband & I knew at ZARAGOZA AFB ,Spain in the late 50s and early 60s I found ONE web site that really was" free " absolutely Nnnnnnnnno charge no request for a credit card and it would send emails if it found a possable match BUT I got a virus in an email attachment from a friend and you know the story from there ,all info including Tax records for 3 years , email info and yes my prized web site got EATEN by some "SMART IDIOT "with nothing better to do than try to ruin as many lives as possable. I f any one knows anyone stationed in Zaragoza in the 59 to 62 time frame lets start our own FREE search place, VIRUS FREE TOO, LOL....Valeria Casey Mt Ida AR
no I tried to log in about 7 or 8 times. this sucks
I agree to you that one should try first these methods in order to find a person that he's been looking for. But the problem begin if the one that seek doesn't have nothing but that person's name. In that situation it's hard to expect to find someone through some of the search engines...
Having as many as possible informations on that person is a key to success. In these modern times there are plenty of sites that offers those kind of services. My personal favourite is a WAATP. It's a phenomenal site that aggregates informations about persons from all around the Globe. Those informations include someone's email, phone number, related links, biography and even actual physical address. The best of all is that it's completely free.
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