Though you may think of Google first when you think of the major search engines, there is something to be said about using MSN to enhance your Internet experience. Not only do they have an excellent search engine, they are also a great source for news, entertainment, and just about anything else of which you can think. When you want more information about an old friend, like perhaps their phone number, you may want to give their search a try before you go anywhere else.

When you use a site like MSN, you should start just like you would with any other search. Enter the name of your friend in the search box and see what comes up. If you seem to get too much, or there seems to be some confusion when you look through the results, you have to consider a few things. Be sure you have the name spelled correctly, and see if there are any other search terms you can add to narrow down what comes up.

What can happen when you search through a name on an engine is that you get too many results that are not relevant. This is because the search is pulling up anything they deem to be what you want. That might mean searching for John Joseph will be too hard unless you put the name inside a set of quotes. You can also put a plus sign between the names to be sure they only come up side by side in the results. That helps tremendously.

If you have too many results, or you can not seem to find what you need, don't move on from MSN just yet. Get all you can from them before you give up. Try the other options that they have. Advanced search is great if you know more about someone like where they live or anything else. You can also try special search options like blogs, news, and images to see if something comes up there.

MSN, like other searches, can not find what is not there, but you may find some results that could be correct. It will then be up to you to decide which is which. If you want more help with that, you can go out and find a site that shows you who owns a phone number. This reverse lookup tells you if you have hit on the right person, or if you need to look around some more.