Reports say online search engines such as Google store user information to boost internet marketing by best personalizing screen ads.

Google is not just a search engine anymore, it is an English verb; a neologism meaning to search for information on the net. A new study, however, shows this virtual oracles and its siblings may know the answer to one's needs before the question is even phrased.

Google's annual rundown of popular searched terms, called the "Zeitgeist" list, is at the first glance an innocent archive of a nation's major preoccupations. In 2008, Obama, scientology and java headed the list.

"Shouldn't we have qualms about how strangely revealing these records can be when private soul searching questions such as "what is love?" and "what is life?" also appear on the top list?," a Wednesday CNN report asks.

These "modern society's version of an oracle", the report said, my fool one into confidence, but they are also storing personal data, including the date, time, wording of your search, your IP address, and your location.

Together this mass of information paints a picture of your personality, interests, and needs, helping corporate companies improve their search engine formulas and attract more advertisers with a promise of "targeted" marketing.