Top 10 Reasons for Performing an Online Investigative Search: What Are You Searching For?

One of the webs most valuable tools is the online investigative search service. Web sites like peoplefinders.com put information that was previously tough to gather right at your fingertips. These web sites are not only used to check out a person's criminal history, as investigative search sites can also help users find old friends, lost relatives, former classmates and even old flames.

As the word spreads about online investigative sites, more users are performing searches than ever before. Thus, PeopleSearchNews.com set out to find out what people are searching for. After surveying more than 1,000 people in the United States who have performed searches (via the Internet) within the past six months, People Search News.com has compiled the top ten most popular reasons for performing an online investigative search:

(Note: most popular answer is #1, least popular is #10)

• Searching for a lost love
• Looking up a friend from childhood
• Trying to find a lost relative.
• Trying to find an ex-spouse for child support or divorce.
• Looking for an ex-lover to establish paternity.
• Trying to locate someone that owes user money
• Adopted children looking for birth parents
• Sex offender searches
• Checking the background of someone they met online
• Reviewing the background of a business

Results

Our survey provided some interesting results on the state of online investigative searching. Surprisingly, the minority of users utilized search sites for law enforcement- type purposes, such as performing a background check or a criminal search. Originally, online investigative sites were used exclusively for these purposes. However, our survey indicates that users are shifting toward using these search sites as a means of re-connection.

The results of our survey appear to reflect the changing nature of how people are using investigative search sites. Specifically, a large majority of users are looking to re-connect with individuals who once held a special place in their life. The large numbers of users looking for past loves and friends indicates that the Internet is becoming a primary source for finding people. Thus, the way people are using online investigative search sites is evolving. When we repeat this survey again in a year, it will be interesting to see how users are utilizing search sites.