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Google has dropped the reverse phone number lookup feature. Glenn from the Google Blogoscoped Forums spotted this on Friday.
That means you can no longer easily type in a phone number into Google and if Google has the phone number in their database, it won't show you who it is. Honestly, often when I receive phone calls from people I need to look up, it rarely would show who it is in Google anyway. The people who don't mind me knowing who is calling show up on the caller ID anyway - those who don't want to show on the caller ID wouldn't show on Google.
In any event, the reverse phone number lookup feature seems to be gone.
In November, Google dropped the Google Phonebook operator. So I guess this is the next logical step. Google dropped it due to complaints.
Like I said, this is not a big loss to me - being that 99% of the time I use it, Google isn't able to return anything anyway.
I should add that this does work for Google Place results. Try [845-369-68698] and you'd get a Google Map in the Google search results. Clearly here, businesses want to be found:
Forum discussion at Google Blogoscoped Forums.
Comments:
Guerrero Ink
02/28/2011 03:45 pm
I noticed a change, and like you, often look up unknown numbers. Bummer on some levels but good for those who don't want their numbers so easily accessed.
Search Engine Blog
02/28/2011 04:33 pm
That's good. It renistates privacy. Who wants others to know your name and address, just by accessing phone numbers? This is another step towards preventing stalkers from doing their stuff.
Search Engine Blog
02/28/2011 04:35 pm
But I guess this could also be a bad thing for people who aren't stalkers. What if you want to know your dentist's address, but all you have is their phone number?
Barry Schwartz
02/28/2011 05:25 pm
It works for businesses still. I showed this above.
Eldad Sotnick-Yogev
03/01/2011 03:59 pm
Not certain what's so crucial to know here other than being up-to-date on what's happening in the world of Google. While reverse phone lookups are interesting it's other tools that have much greater SEO value. I know of a one that is especially useful in using the phone number to find where it has been cited - so this is really helpful for local SEO. Now that's something worth using...reverse phone lookup is just a handy feature to find that missing dentist address as mentioned in the comments below
Bon
03/02/2011 03:04 pm
there are still sites like onlinereversetrace.info that allow you to find reverse phone numbers and reverse emails from their database, and they cost money, so this time they are actually removing a useful feature and i dont like it one bit
Hardy
03/22/2011 04:55 pm
With privacy issue as a main concern, I imagine the big companies like G only see offering this service as more of a headache..
San Diego
06/09/2011 12:14 pm
Due to the nature of data, most companies will allow you to make a preliminary search of the cell phone/landline number and tell you whether they have accurate data for this number or not? If they say that they have information about the particular number you are looking for, they will ask you for a one-time subscription fee to give you an access permission. This fee is charged to prevent illegal access as mentioned earlier. Once you pay the fee, you will be able to use their reverse phone name lookup services instantly & make unlimited searches for about a year or so.