How Do I Google a Person I'm Looking for?

Learn how to narrow your Google search.

The free flow of information over the Internet has made it easier to find someone through a search engine like Google than ever. The down side to all of this is that you may get so many search results back from Google that you possibly may not wade through them all. Learn how to Google a person effectively to narrow down your search results and efficiently find the person you seek.

Instructions

1. Type variations of the person's name in Google's search box. Navigate to google.com, enter the person's name in the search field and click "Search." Use different versions of their name if the results are unsatisfactory. For example, if the person's name is Jonathan Lee Smith, change the first name to Jon, John, Jack and so on. Try replacing the middle name with an initial, then try eliminating the middle name all together.

2. Enclose the name in quotation marks. The search now limits results to those which contain the exact phrase within the quotations.

3. Eliminate the clutter with the "minus" symbol and exclude terms that produce unwanted results. If John L Smith is a famous football player for the Indianapolis Colts, eliminate results with the words "Colts" and "football" by searching for "John L. Smith -football -colts." Leave a space before the minus, but no space between the minus and the excluded word.

4. Add words that are relevant to the person you seek. If they lived in Philadelphia and Boston, add those terms to the search. For example, you would type "John L. Smith Philadelphia Boston." Continue adding relevant information to narrow the search, such as occupation, hobbies or alma mater.

5. Limit your search to specific types of domains. Type "site:.edu" after your search terms to limit results to schools if the person is a teacher or student, or "site:.gov" if you think he works for the government.

6. Use the "plus" sign to limit results to pages that contain a certain word or phrase. Add a space, then a "+" immediately followed by the search term. For example: "John Smith +sailing." All of your results will include the word "sailing."

Tips & Warnings

• Google searches are not case sensitive.

References

• University of Florida: Google Search Tips
• Massachusets Institute of Technology: The Most Useful Search Tips To Remember
• Monroe Community College: Top Search Tips