Free Telephone Number Search - The Single Most Overlooked Search Tool

Are you looking for a quick and easy way to do an excellent, but
free telephone number search on the internet?I've periodically
searched numbers using the internet for years, using probably every
reasonable and conceivable way to search, both free and paid. Lately,
I've begun looking for what information is out there to help new
searchers -- and I've been greatly disappointed. Maybe you have been,
too.I wrote this guide assuming that you're completely confused by all
the possible options out there, you've never done this before, or even
new to the internet itself.With the above in mind, I've written a
brief but concise guide to conducting a free number search using
Google -- which really is the single most overlooked tool for this
kind of search. It's free, but most people don't use it in quite the
way they should for this kind of task.Here's how to do it.
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How To Do
A "Deep Google Search" With Your Unknown Phone Number.
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1. Get your
unknown phone number in front of you.
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2. Start with a quick Google
search -- "Google" your unknown phone number directly.Sometimes a
quick Google search works, sometimes it doesn't. But it's super fast
and free to try.I want you to type the phone number you have into the
Google search engine and see what comes out. This doesn't cost
anything, and is one of the most powerful ways to "sleuth" the owner
of a phone number. It amazes me how many people overlook this
method.Start by going to Google and typing in the unknown phone
number, using this format:XXX-XXX-XXXX (e.g. 614-555-1234)Be sure to
use the area code, i.e. avoid using just seven digits. You are
conducting a national search. If you leave the area code out, you'll
more likely than not get several "results" from an irrelevant area of
the country.And why the above format? Two reasons. One is, in my
experience, the above search format is the single most likely format
to find a match for the number you want."So what happens after I type
in the unknown phone number?"Google will return a page with ten search
results on it. Each result will have some summary text showing, in
bold, the part of the page with the closest match to your unknown
phone number.What you're looking for is web pages that have the exact
unknown phone number on it, i.e. including the area code. Obviously
when you find such a page, your search usually ends successfully
because the owner of the phone number is revealed when you click on
the appropriate page. There is one big exception to this rule; see
"Big Hint #2," below."Any helpful hints I should know?"Yes!Big Hint
#1: Avoid all search results but exact matches. If you don't see an
exact match, there is no need to click on the search result. For
example, it's common to see the main seven digits ("555-1234") of your
phone number, but the area code doesn't appear in the search result
summary. Those are virtually always "trash" results; skip them.Big
Hint #2: Avoid "reverse spam" results. For most phone numbers you
type in, Google will return a number of search result with your
unknown phone number on it. Unfortunately there are many web sites
that exist solely and only to list huge lists of phone number
combinations, solely to get you to go to their web site, where they
plan to sell you a paid lookup service. They provide no information
about your actual search term whatsoever. It's a shame, but you'll
quickly get better at spotting such "reverse spam" sites before you
even click on them.If you don't have the owner of the phone number
yet, continue to the next step.3. Now do a "Deep Google Search" on
your unknown phone number.This is easy, because you're essentially
doing the above several more times, but using some important
variations. This is necessary because, while fewer numbers appear this
way in the index, Google will not always show you unless you ask by
reformatting the number in the following ways.Do a Google search like
I described above, but this time format the number in these ways, in
the order they most commonly appear on most internet web pages:(XXX)
XXX-XXXX, e.g. (614) 555-1234XXXXXXXXXX, e.g. 6145551234XXX.XXX.XXXX,
e.g. 614.555.1234 (If you're in a hurry, skip this one, as it's
infrequently used!)"Google returns a bazillion results no matter what
I type in. How do I handle that?"It's simple. Just ignore anything
beyond the first page of search results, i.e. the first ten listings
you get.This is a rule of thumb used by many, many people who search
Google for a plethora of reasons that have nothing to do with phone
numbers. It'll serve you well, too. You certainly can continue reading
past page one, but remember you are looking for a literal match to the
number you're searching -- if it isn't on page one, what do you think
the odds are it would ever be on page 2, or 3, or so forth? This is a
different mindset than when you're using a search engine for a term
with some possible ambiguity involved, like "countries with highest
gross domestic product."Having said that, you can occasionally find a
good owner or bit of information about a phone number by sifting
through up to several pages of search results. It's possible. I've
done it myself. But this approach pays off quite rarely, and requires
so much time and "elbow grease," I don't suggest you put in that
effort unless you're positively desperate."Should I try other search
engines?"You sure can! But it's rare that they'll yield additional
useful results. My suggestion is that you save time by running your
phone number through Google multiple ways as I've described.If you
don't have the owner of the phone number yet, continue to the final
step.4. Did you find out the name, address, and so forth of the
unknown phone number you want?If yes, congratulations! I hope you use
this method in the future when you want a free phone number search --
it beats paying! It's always best when you can locate ownership
information on your own and for free. If you haven't done this too
many times, it may be easier to print this article out and use it for
future reference.If no, look, I've reached this point, too -- many
times, in fact. I feel for you! Unfortunately, no matter how hard you
try, how many sites you try, and how much time you spend at it,
sometimes there just isn't someone else out there who happens to have
posted the number and identifying information you're looking for to
some public page on the internet. This actually happens quite often!
After all, as big as the internet is... There are even more phone
numbers!The truth is this: it's time to consider a paid search.