The biggest databases of phone numbers are free... and you use them all the time... they are - simply - the very search engines that likely brought you to this page!
Though most think of using search engines when searching for information, they may not think to do so when they are searching out a person. Don't skip this source of information if you are trying to find a person, or the owner of a particular phone number.
The search engines are often the only ways to have access to almost anything online that you would not find otherwise. You do have to make sure you know how to search before you start, and you have to be willing to put some time into your endeavor.
You are probably aware of the major search engines like Google, MSN, and Yahoo, but there are many more out there. You should try as many as you can find time for, as sometimes each comes up with different information, even when using the exact same search terms.
Some lesser known, but very useful, engines to try are AltaVista and Ask.com. Don't forget to use all of the options each one offers. The news, image, blog, and video searches on each one can be useful as well.
When searching with just a phone number, you have to know a few things to get the best results. If you have a number and wish to do a search on it with Google's search, you have to be sure to format the number correctly to get results, if there are any. You should always type in ‘phonebook:' and than add the number in the search box.
When you add the number, you should leave out the dashes. Use spaces instead for better results. This formula will give you any results they have on their phonebook page.
A big problem with searching is that most search terms will result in thousands of different hits or results. When you only have one thing to go on, this might mean you have to sift through those. If you have any other type of information, be sure to use it in your search to help narrow down what comes up as relevant.
For example, if you know a name, but you also have a good idea about a state of residence, put the name with a comma, and then the state. If you know the name of a city or town, add that to the mix as well. You will find you have fewer and more relevant results.
There are times when using a search engine that the results don't seem to be relevant to what you are searching. When that happens, there are a few tricks you can use to be sure you aren't getting junk hits that don't have anything to do with what you are looking for. When you search for a name, first and last, put quotes around the names. That way, only results where those two names are side by side will appear.
You can use the same principle when searching for words that you want to appear together within the text. This often helps find more relevant links, and will make finding information much simpler.
Terry Taggert writes informational articles about people search, privacy, reverse phone lookups, and other similar topics. Conduct an instant reverse cell phone lookup at http://reverse-cell-phone.weebly.com
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