New Kid In Internet Search War

A Cambridge startup is offering a service it says gives a measure of control over the personal data the Internet disgorges, giving new meaning to a practice commonly termed "ego surfing" or "Googling yourself."

The practice of typing your name into an Internet search engine and seeing what pops up is now common, but the results can be unpredictable. The Internet holds surprising amounts of personal information between its ever-expanding corners, and some of it may be outdated, inaccurate or embarrassing.

ZoomInfo's computers have compiled individual Web profiles of 25 million people, summarizing what the Web publicly says about each person. The service, launched Monday, allows Web surfers to search for their profile, then change it for free.

"With us, you have the ability to ... present yourself how you want to be presented," said Russell Glass, ZoomInfo's director of consumer products.

"Because it takes information from other web sites, there is the real possibility of errors. As they say in the computer industry, 'Garbage in, garbage out,'" says CBS News Technology Analyst Larry Magid. "One good thing about this service is that it's possible to edit your profile. That's a way to correct the record in case of erroneous material."

"Some call this site an invasion of privacy but I think that horse is already out of that barn," adds Magid. "All this site does is to collate publicly available information that's already out there."

Richard M. Smith, an Internet privacy and security expert, said the new service seems like snooping, which could create a perception problem for ZoomInfo.

"Nice people don't snoop on their neighbors," he said.

Preston Gralla, co-author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Internet Privacy and Security," compared it to unknowingly being trailed through public places by a private detective.

"Just because (the information) is publicly available, it's still difficult for anybody to put together," Gralla said. "Just the act of collecting all this information, you could consider it an invasion of privacy."

The information is derived only from public Web pages. The company doesn't search court records or include password-protected or private Web sites.

Company officials said people can also choose to have their profile deleted.

Chief Executive Jonathan Stern said the company is doing what popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo already do. What ZoomInfo adds, he said, is the winnowing out of irrelevant information, producing better results. People need good information about others for work and their daily lives, he said.

"Trust is very important and information is what builds trust," said Stern, who also founded Corex, a separate company that produces the leading brand of technology that scans business cards and converts them into electronic contacts.

ZoomInfo, formerly Eliyon Technologies, is a privately held company with about 60 employees. An existing pay service helps businesses and recruiters use the Internet to find and screen new employees at costs ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, depending the size of the company and usage. The company said its customers include 20 percent of the Fortune 500, including Google Inc., America Online and Microsoft Corp.

Stern said the free "people search" option aims to draw new visitors to the site and build the company's reputation, thereby boosting subscription sales. He didn't rule out offering more elaborate pay options to beef up individual Web profiles in the future.

Stern said ZoomInfo's "summarization process" looks more closely than typical search engines and is better able to make or eliminate links between information about people who have the same name.

ZoomInfo can't erase information on the Internet, or stop Web people searches from turning up incorrect or unflattering data. But since search engines display the most relevant results first, a well constructed ZoomInfo profile will be the first or among the first choices that appear, Glass said.

To register and change a profile, people must verify their identity with a credit card, though no charge is assessed. ZoomInfo can't guarantee the accuracy of what a person posts, but it clearly notes the information was added by the individual, so others know the source.

A quick tryout of ZoomInfo before its release produced individual profiles of varying detail. Some had bare-bones information, such as name and occupation, while others looked like a resume, listing past jobs with current interests.

Smith said he is skeptical ZoomInfo could truly differentiate between people when creating profiles. That could result in more inaccuracies - not fewer - floating about the Internet, he said.

But Chris Sherman, editor of the industry newsletter Search Day, said the company's technology has a reputation for being sophisticated and accurate. No one does people searches particularly well, meaning ZoomInfo has a chance to become a leader in that niche, he said.

"If they do it right, they've got the opportunity to become a trusted source," Sherman said.