The Internet has made fact-checking easy and people routinely use it for this end, for example, to Google client names and personal backgrounds before their first business meeting, or to take a quick glance at a potential new hire's reputation.
But such information may become harder to acquire and background searches may someday yield little information.
An increasing number of people are demanding that unflattering personal tidbits about them be deleted from online search results, especially in Europe, where moves to protect the "right to be forgotten" have gained momentum. At the same time, search engines are coming under greater pressure to act on such demands.