The evolution of people search (1/4)
September 3rd, 2008 by raphaelWhen the Internet first started, there really wasn’t much information out there. Search engines weren’t around yet. All that existed were a few primitive Web directories such as Yahoo and email directories. And email directories were exactly where today’s massive people search industry first started. Today, even Spokeo People Search can trace its roots back to these original email directories.
Email directories may seem strange to us these days because we all have our contact lists in Gmail, Yahoo, or AOL mail, however in those days finding someone to email was not easy! These directories were essentially free people search for social purposes.
Compared to today’s search technologies, email directories didn’t offer very much information. All it could tell you was whether a person used email, and if so, what the contact address was. At that time, multimedia people search that turned up MySpace photos or YouTube videos was still far off in the future.
December 28th, 2008 at 6:31 am
people-spot.comPeople search is huge now. I think something like 30 percent (30 percent!) of all searches on Google, Yahoo and MSN are people-related. And whenever you have a phenomenon that involves that many people, a controversy of one sort or another is inevitable. Sure enough, a debate is raging now over whether people-search engines provide a legitimate and valuable service or whether they constitute a serious invasion of privacy. As frequently happens in these types of debates, there is no black and white answer or solution. Whether people-search engines are good or bad depends on who uses them and for what purpose. So the debate will continue, and who knows whether a consensus will ever be reached. Meanwhile, you’ll find a nifty little people search engine at http://www.people-spot.com/.