Googling, Netronline.com, and Checking Out Dates
I’ve written about Googling prospective dates here before, and also about Zoominfo, where you can find out what others find when they Google you, and even change some of what comes up. Here’s a new resource if you want to do some deep digging: Netronline.com—“Welcome to the real estate public records and research information portal for property information, deeds & mortgage copies, tax records, parcel maps, assessment records, and public records nationwide. State and County government records may be accessed through our Public Records Online portal, and property information may be obtained through our online Property Data Store.”
Google is a terrific resource—just go to and search using your date’s name, in quotation marks: “John A. Smith” If your date has a common name, this may make for a lot of work, much or all of which is useless. I just did a search using “John A. Smith” and got 12,800 entries. However, Google has another neat tool: Go to the bottom of your search results and click “Search within results,” then put in another fact you know that might whittle down the results. I used “New York,” and got the number down to 591 entries. Be sure to try different spellings of the name.
Be sure to keep in mind that many if not most or all of the entries may not be your date. However, if you find out some questionable information, let’s say a murderer with the same name, you might want to do more investigation. I also see nothing wrong with saying to your date: “You know, I did a Google search on your name, and found that someone named John Smith is a convicted murderer.” Then watch his reaction.
Try searching email nicknames or screen names as well. Often folks will have a favorite screen name or two that they consistently use, and googling it will bring posts that they have made to blogs, message boards, or other Internet locations. You could find out a lot with that route.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
