Email search (also called email lookup) and its counterpart, reverse email lookup, are two methods for finding information about someone by using information you already possess. Email search allows you to find out the email address of someone if you know their name (knowing the country and state or province in which they live also helps), while reverse email lookup is the term used when you’re trying to find out the name of a person who owns a particular email address. Think of it as the email equivalent of looking through your phone book’s white-pages section: you know the name and you’re using that information to find a telephone number.
Once upon a time, this may have been a frightening concept; now, though, many people count on the internet when it comes to reconnecting with old friends or finding an important email address they’ve misplaced. And given how much personal information many of us freely type into the websites we visit – social networking sites, personals or dating sites, auction sites, etc. — it seems like it should be relatively simple thing to find someone’s email address or real name. You just type in the information you have and out pops the information you need, right? Not quite.
The problem with email search is that there really is no central database that houses everyone’s email addresses and personal information. Unlike your local telephone directory, information about people on the internet gets spread out across an immense network. Compiling an accurate profile on someone can mean scouring databases from all over the world for information that many websites attempt to keep private. And that’s not even counting how many people have the same name as the person you’re seeking, even if you’re narrowing your search geographically. (I personally know that, aside from the famous Steelers nose tackle, there are two Chris Hokes who live in my same county and aren’t related to me.)
An example of a company claiming to be able to do email lookups.
A quick Google search for “email lookup” returns thousands of “completely free” email lookup websites, many promising that the email address or name you’re seeking is just a few clicks away. Upon submitting information, though, you’re stopped cold by a message saying that yes, the information is available, but only if you’re willing to pay a fee, up to $39.95 in some cases. The information seems tantalizingly close and sometimes the website even reveals a portion of the information just to tempt you further. It seems the word “free” just doesn’t seem to carry the same meaning these days.
Trying to track down information this way can be frustrating. How can you tell a scam from a legitimate email service lookup? How can you tell if the information out there is going to be accurate or current? And are there any alternatives?
In this series of articles, I’ll be exploring the finer points of email search and reverse email lookup, reviewing some top email lookup services, and discussing alternatives that may help you find the information you’re seeking, without having to pay for it.
In Part 2 we delve into free and commercial directories and search engines.
[...] part one, I wrote a brief introduction to email search, explained the difference between email search and [...]
[...] part one, I wrote a brief introduction to email search and discussed how reverse lookup works. In part two, [...]