Internet search is a vanity trip for many

Internet users run more searches on themselves than on those they know, says a new survey for Microsoft Corp\'s MSN.com.

Internet users run more searches on themselves than on those they know.

They use search engines like Google more to gauge their own popularity online than to find out about their friends or relatives, says a new survey for Microsoft Corp's MSN.com.

Nearly 40 per cent of those quizzed in last week's survey by research group Harris Interactive had searched the Internet to see how well known they were online, but only 28 per cent had looked up their family members.

Most of those who had done the searches on themselves were surprised with their own popularity, reveals the survey conducted amongst US users.

About 35 per cent of those who responded in the survey said they had looked up long lost friends online.

Many of those surveyed said they had run a search on their prospective girlfriends/boyfriends before a date to peep into their past. About 20 per cent even looked up their old flames to find out how they were faring.

Gen X, or the generation that has grown up with the Internet, is more likely to look for a sweetheart online than their elders.

The survey found that some conducted searches on people they knew just out of curiosity.

People aged 59 and over were more likely to use the Web to find out about their family and ancestors.

Microsoft, which entered the search engine business recently, proposes to reposition its services based on the survey's findings.