How much do you know about the "deep Internet," also referred to as the "Invisible Web?" Beyond all the things your browser and the search engines can see is an estimated 500 times more data that's accessible ...but not easily so.
According to Anne Fisher, Fortune magazine's career advice columnist, the Invisible Web is the latest place employers are looking to learn more about the job applicants they're interviewing, and specialists help make it easy.
"Someone adept at deep - Web diving can find information in databases that have blocked traditional search engines, as well as certain kinds of multimedia files and other formats Google can't reach - including Web pages unlinked to any other pages, data from password-protected sites, and much, much more."
Experts tell Fisher they can find Amazon wish lists, marathon results, home foreclosures, political donations, SEC investigations, blog comments, tweets, and who knows what else? Big clients will pay deep search specialists like Pipl thousands a month to conduct multiple searches.
As a Pipl executive puts it, "Most people have put a lot more data out there, in various places, than they realize. Blog comments, for instance, seem 'anonymous' to many people because they think the Internet is so vast, how could anyone find that? But the fact is, an employer who does a Pipl search finds a lot more than just your LinkedIn profile. They're looking at a pattern of online behavior that can reveal your whole personality."
Read the entire article to learn ways to fight back and protect your Deep Web identity. Yes, it's one more thing to worry about.
-- Don Willmott