Whether you want to get the latest news, learn a complex technical term, compare hotel prices, or find out more about a new neighbor, the first thing you would typically do is turn to the internet. The digital world has made data accessible to everyone. After all, knowledge is power—having access to information allows you to get to know the world around you better and make informed decisions.
However, the information you require could change each time. Not every online platform can cater to all your needs. Using the right tools and platforms is essential for finding information in the most effective way possible. In this article, we bring you popular sites that can help improve your search based on a variety of search intents. Let’s get started!
With 91.15% of market share based on search volume, Google is the undisputed leader in the search engine category.
The search giant invests heavily to maintain its search dominance; it uses powerful algorithms that can sort, filter, and deliver results with higher accuracy. It also updates these algorithms regularly to improve its core search services.
And Google’s speed is second to none—you can find millions of results on the platform in a fraction of a second.
And what kind of information can it help you search? Just about anything. Google will list indexed online pages that carry your search phrase or similar words, often prioritizing the most relevant and recent ones. These can include news sites, social media posts, forum comments, government archives, and public websites.
Boasting over 2.9 billion monthly users, Facebook is the most popular social media site. Naturally, it is the best place to search social media profiles and trending topics.
If you already have an account, you can easily search people, places, events, organizations, buzzwords, and a range of other information on the platform. And similar to Google, changing your search term could help improve results on Facebook.
Of course, private profiles and image-, video-, and GIF-based content are typically excluded from results. If you need additional information, you can also try other social media sites.
TruthFinder
Sometimes, you may wish to find more information about a new babysitter or a suspicious-looking neighbor who has just moved in next door. The best platform to help you in such situations is TruthFinder.
It is a data aggregator that collects public records of individuals to compile detailed profiles with a variety of useful information—from criminal records and sex offender details to bankruptcies, liens, and foreclosures.
What makes TruthFinder unique is that, unlike search engines and social media, it lists all relevant information about the individual in the form of a comprehensive report. This saves you from the hassle of reviewing several web sources to retrieve what you need.
Social Searcher
This platform specializes in searching social media sites for specific mentions of a term or name. It is especially useful for tracking social conversations about individuals, brands, organizations, and hashtags. But you can also use it to search for various other information.
Social Searcher screens Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter, Google+, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Flickr, and Reddit to filter and provide matching results. However, the free version only lists a limited number of search results, with 100 searches a day. The three paid options offer additional search features with data analytics. You can also set up email alerts to notify you of new results.
PhoneHistory
If you need to discover details about the owner of a particular phone number, a Google or Facebook search might not yield the best results. To get accurate and filtered information about contact numbers, PhoneHistory is a more effective resource.
This platform has a database of more than 500 million US phone numbers with extensive details of related individuals and organizations. As a result, you can quickly uncover the full name, age, address, marital status, occupation, education, and various other information of a phone number’s owner.
It doesn’t stop there; based on data availability, you might also find details about previous owners of the particular number.
Wikipedia
This is a massive open-source online encyclopedia that can find reliable and verified information on a range of topics. The platform’s content is user-generated. However, it is vetted and constantly updated by the community based on Wikipedia’s strict guidelines.
The platform is also available in several languages, making it one of the most accessible search tools in the world. The English version alone contains over 6.68 million articles.
Each topic has a dedicated page with links to other pages based on relevant terms and phrases. This allows you to learn more and gain in-depth information if you wish to do so.
Moreover, every fact and statement on Wikipedia is supported by a credible source, for which relevant references and links are given at the bottom of each page.
Quora
If you want your questions answered by real humans and not machines, then the best platform to try is Quora. It is a community-based, forum-style site that can help you find information in a question-and-answer format.
Over 300 million users regularly answer questions based on their expertise, skills, and experiences. Although there is little moderation unless content is flagged, the users get to vote for the best answers. This allows you to identify popular and more accurate information.
To use the platform, all you need to do is sign up for a free account.
Final Thoughts
The internet can provide information at a click of a button. But often, it is not that simple. Not every platform can cater to all your data needs with the same level of accuracy, relevance, and speed. So, knowing the right tool to use is essential if you want to improve your search results and save time and money.
In this article, we have given you several options to elevate your search experience. But each resource has distinct strengths that can help you in specific situations. Therefore, to select the best platform, assess your information requirements first.
