Finding People with 123People - A Look at the Interface
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I decided to review 123People after a quick look at its interface and the way it delivers results. Here's a shot of the search engine's home page, with an explanation of the salient parts (with close-ups) to follow:
Yes, I know, it's impossible to make out any detail, but don't worry, I'll cover the interesting stuff with screen shots. So let's start on the upper left. What are those characters all the way in the corner?
It's a tab that lets you change the language. While it came up in English for me, a simple click will change it to Italian, French, or German (“Deutsch” is the German word for German, hence the “DE” abbreviation). True, Google's language skills are far more extensive, but this is a nice touch, and makes a lot of sense for a search engine based in Europe. Some reviewers have commented that 123People really needs to expand the number of languages it offers. In contrast, however, if Spock and ZoomInfo present their information in any language other than English, I couldn't find it.
The next section across the top allows registered users to sign in. What do you get for registering with the site? 123People sends you regular updates regarding search results, and lets you manage email addresses that are found on 123People, as long as you verify that they are yours. You can also get the company's newsletter if you choose. A number of reviewers of the search engine mentioned that you get some control over profile information (tags and such), but they reviewed it in beta; some of that functionality seems to be eliminated, or else I couldn't find it.
After the login area you can choose to “Tell a Friend.” Clicking this button pops up a form into which you can enter your own and your friend's information (just name and email); you can also opt to receive more information about 123People through this form. Actually the check box that lets you do so is checked by default, so you'd have to opt out.
Next to the “Tell a Friend” button is one for 123People's toolbar. Be warned; judging from the way my browser behaved, the site tries to install the toolbar automatically when you click the button. I was not amused.
Next to the toolbar button is the one that takes you to the form that lets you register. It looks pretty standard:
Maybe it's me, but I'm not sure why the “gender” radio button is there. As you can see, the check box next to “Yes, I want to get updates from 123people” is clicked by default. I would like to say, however, that I was impressed with their drop-down menu; the list of countries was tremendous, and even included places that, by their own admission, don't exist anymore (such as Democratic Yemen).
Next: An Engine With Indexes? >>
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