Search outfit Google is giving people influence over what information turns up during online searches on vanity searches of their names.

Google software engineer Brian Stoler wrote in a posting at the Internet firm's website that everyone has punched in their own name to see what turns up. When searching for yourself to see what others would find, results can be varied and aren't always what you want people to see, he said.

For example if you type in the name "Nick Farrell" you get some Irish actor who appears famous for shagging models and I have not tread the boards since I left New Zealand in 1998.

The improved vanity search is part of Google profiles. Concise profiles are displayed along with results of searches on people's names to allow a little control of one's online image.