News Home > Google News
More people Google themselves
In the age of the internet and online advertising, an increasing number of people are Googling themselves to see what information is out there.A new report from Pew Internet and American Life Project found that almost half (47 per cent) of US adult internet users had looked for information about themselves using Google or another search engine such as Yahoo or Microsoft Live.
This number is up from 22 per cent of internet users who Googled themselves in 2002, and the accuracy of information appears to be improving too.
Almost nine out of ten (87 per cent) said that the info they found about themselves was accurate, up from 74 per cent who said the same five years ago. Around four per cent of online adults have had a bad experience because of embarrassing or inaccurate information posted online.
The poll found that an increasing number are using search engines to look for information on others too.
In fact, 53 per cent of US web users have used the net to look up their friends, relatives, colleagues and neighbours.
Men and women are as likely to look for information about themselves as each other, although more women than men will typically look up the person they are dating.
Meanwhile, social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are leading more people to post personal details about themselves on the net, which will have benefits for internet advertisers.
Google News posted on 19 December 2007
