Surfers use web to find ex-lovers

Jilted exes and old romantics are turning to the web to look up past boyfriends and girlfriends, a study by search engine Ask Jeeves has found. 

Almost half of the 1,000 people questioned admitted to going online to look up former lovers.

One in 10 said they had used search engines and social-networking sites such as Facebook to look up ex-partners while 9 per cent trawled the net to find details of one-night stands. 

The reasons for searching for exes varied: Thirty-seven per cent claimed they were just being nosey and only 9 per cent actually wanted to get in contact again.

However, 4 per cent hoped to rekindle the romance or, in contrast, to tell their ex how happy they are without them. Seven per cent actually claimed to have got back together with someone they found online. 

The findings also revealed that 22 per cent of people have ignored requests from exes to get back in touch and 59 per cent of people asked had also tried 'vanity searching' - looking up themselves online. 

The survey was commisioned by the search engine to coincide with a Friends promotion on its site.