question about "Googling your date" article on CNN.com

[apple007]

Just read this article on CNN.com about how it's now standard practice in the dating scene to Google a potential date:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/04/09/googlingyourdate.ap.ap/index.html

It didn't really say anything most of us didn't already know in the Google Era, but this one sentence was somewhat baffling:

... She also had to contend with an on-again, off-again boyfriend who googled her on a daily basis to try and track her every move. ...

Am I missing something here? Unless someone tells you they Google you every day, how would you know you're being Googled every day? (Maybe the writer just wasn't clear enough, but the article makes it sound like this woman somehow discovered, on her own, that she was being tracked via Google, which seems dubious.)

[Ebby]

You can check referrer queries if they follow a link to your site from google. Just search your name.

I've found a few people looking for "me" but probably someone more famous only with my same name.

[apple007]

That makes sense, but if a person has no site of their own (i.e., no referrer logs), there's really no way to know if, or how often, someone is Googling that person, right?

[Ebby]

Not really. If they had access to the computer, you could check the history. It boils down to where you basically need to stumble across a digital trail and analyze it. But those are long shots.

Then again, they could have blurted it out, but even that could be prone to exaggeration. I don't think google updates that quickly so it is a futile pursuit.

[Bryson]

That makes sense, but if a person has no site of their own (i.e., no referrer logs), there's really no way to know if, or how often, someone is Googling that person, right?


You know those shivers you get down the back of your neck sometimes? That's someone Googling you.... ;)

[turbulentfurball]

Hehe. I just found someone with the same name as me in Northern Ireland. I thought I was unique. Saying that, he spells Bryan the other way.

[spikeh]

I am absolutely the only person in the world with my full name. Makes life difficult.

[Bryson]

Including, or excluding your middle name?

I am if you include the middle name. If you just use first and last, my nephew is named after me, but that's it.

[turbulentfurball]

If you spell Bryan with a 'Y', I'm unique. I dunno if Brian has a middle name, but I do, so I'm uniquer. :D

[mattf]

If you spell Bryan with a 'Y', I'm unique.
And dyslexic, shirley? ;)

There are enough geeky 20-somethings with my name to make me utterly common.

[BuonRotto]

Hm, this is news to me.

I did go out with a US Marshall a couple of times, and she had access to any record of a person you could imagine. Of course, I don't even have a speeding ticket on my record, so I said have a field day and see what you can find. Either she found something I'm not aware of, or she just didn't like me. After 2 dates, she disappeared. :D

Hm... kind of interesting what I find from me on the web. It just proves what a nerd I am really.

I had an old friend find my MySpace page this way recently. I would be embarrassed just to have a MySpace page, but it's rather spartan.

[kretara]

I was able to find some 40 references to myself on google. Mostly credits on websites that I have worked on.
Oh yeah!! It appears that I am also the Chief Executive of Manchester United Football Club!
My last name is very common across the pond.

[turtle]

My name is fairly common. I think my last name is only used less than "Smith" by a couple hundred. Even more if you go overseas where my surname is the equivalent of Smith (or so I'm told in Ireland).

If you were to Google it you wouldn't find me though, there's someone else out there who comes up when you search any variant of my name.

[rasmits]

I've Googled dates before - Never found anything very interesting.

Actually one time I searched and found a newspaper article written about him when he was young. It was cute.

[spikeh]

Including, or excluding your middle name?

I am if you include the middle name. If you just use first and last, my nephew is named after me, but that's it.

Excluding my middle name. Of course, that only serves to make me more unique. :(

[alcimedes]

If I google my name the first thing that comes up is a suggestion from google to add "murder" to the list. Nice.

[Wrao]

I have a unique name, which I actually kind of dislike in this modern age. If I could, I would strike a lot of references to my name on the internet. Not because of anything particularly embarrassing or inappropriate just because there is only one person in the world with my name... me.

I generally find googling people to be pointless, since most people have common enough names that it is unlikely you find something about them, that being said, it can produce some limited fun. Seems like everyone is one myspace and 12 dating sites these days, and constantly filling out profiles, quizzes, writing blogs...etc. Googling a name is not likely to bring you any more information than any of these 'social networking' sites.

[Dovek916]

there are sites that you can " people search". so unlike google, it looks for housing info and telephone numbers and the like, it is creepy 'cause you can find your self and almost anyone you know. link to site (zabasearch.com)

[Wrao]

there are sites that you can " people search". so unlike google, it looks for housing info and telephone numbers and the like, it is creepy 'cause you can find your self and almost anyone you know. link to site (zabasearch.com)

Not me!

[autodata]

Not me!
You are one of the few, although if you have never purchased a home and don't have records of your name in many systems then there won't be much.
Am I missing something here? Unless someone tells you they Google you every day, how would you know you're being Googled every day? (Maybe the writer just wasn't clear enough, but the article makes it sound like this woman somehow discovered, on her own, that she was being tracked via Google, which seems dubious.)
No, you aren't missing anything. She must have found out through some sort of non-tech way.

[apple007]

I never really thought about it, but I guess a person's name can really impact how they think about things. I'm the only person in the country with my name, so I've always just taken it for granted I'm easy to find online. I also took it for granted the first thing people do now when meeting someone new (whether dating, business, etc.) is head to Google, but it's interesting to see how some people are saying they don't even bother because they usually come up empty.

[BuonRotto]

My girlfriend briefly dated a guy who ended up killing his roommate back in college. He was trying to leech off of her and stalked her before being sent away. He's tried to contact her from prison, sending letters to her parents' address. She's afraid he's going to try and find her when he gets out. (Surprisingly, that time isn't far away.) She is considering changing her name because of sites like the one posted above. She's scared to death of this creep.

She has a common name, but that site makes it easy to find her by narrowing results down by geographic region.

All this stuff is a two-way street.

[autodata]

She is considering changing her name because of sites like the one posted above.
It's really the only way. All kinds of major transactions will leave personal info in publicly accessible databases, notably gov't ones. Real estate transactions are one of the most common ways that your info will become accessible since they can be posted in a number of different ways (local paper, county clerk database, etc)

[alcimedes]

ERIC SMITH - 46 Listings

Bwa ha ha ha.

Phear my anonymousness.

[apple007]

She is considering changing her name because of sites like the one posted above. She's scared to death of this creep.

Sounds more like she needs to start building a case for keeping him behind bars (e.g., letters to parole board) and doing things like getting a restraining order. She can change her name, but unless she cuts all ties to family, changes her SSN, etc., it's only a matter of time before this guy finds her again.

Sounds like a rough situation. Good luck.