A personal or personal ad is an item or notice traditionally in the newspaper, similar to a classified ad but personal in nature. With its rise in popularity, the World Wide Web has also become a common medium for personals. Personals are generally meant to find romance or friendship, and usually include a basic description of the person posting it, and their interests.
Some University Newspapers offer free personals where students direct messages to others on campus. Most notable is The Koala at UCSD and UCI.
Due to newspaper prices being based on characters or lines of text, a jargon of abbreviations and acronyms arose in personals, and have carried over to the internet. The most common are:
More on [ Personal advertisement ]

Amy L. Bradley - Last seen Tuesday, March 24th, 1998, on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
Meta Description: [ Amy L. Bradley, Missing Lost Vanished Person. ]
Arthur Deering - Reward offered to find Artie Deering, missing since June 1998.
Behrman, Jill - Missing person search.
Christian Christiansen - Stayed at Rose Folkes house in Gt Yarmouth, UK, during 1953.
Cooke, Rachel - Help us find Rachel Cooke and return her to her parents in Georgetown Texas.
Curry, Hope Renee - Disappearance information, pictures, and who to contact.
Meta Description: [ A place to send info to me and Hope's family, that will help us locate Hope. Pictures of Hope. Details and info on Hope's disappearance can be found in Links and contact info.There are some helpful links for your missing loved one's here too.. we miss you Hope R. Curry... ]
Doug Kirk - Missing person, Arkansas.
Meta Description: [ Doug Kirk ]
Finding My Lost Friends - Ruth Milnes-Tanner's site looking for lost friends. Lists names and descriptions.
Frances Scott Key Elementary School - Personal search for former classmates
Meta Description: [ Personal homepages are soooooo 1997... ]
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Gazzard, Susan - Susan is the daughter of Alan Lilian Gazzard and has two brothers Tony Ricky. Born in 1967 believed still be in the United Kingdom.
Meta Description: [ iiNet specialises in super fast ADSL2+ broadband. Get the fastest speeds around, up to 24,000kbps - ordinary broadband
just isn't the same. We also have the greatest ADSL2+ coverage in Australia. ]
Herron, Audrey May - Missing mother of three. Appeals for information and details on the reward. Last seen in Aug 2002.
Meta Description: [ world wide web designing a page url internet http hypertext ]
Hildegard Sass - Last seen in 1962, in the Vancouver, British Columbia area.
Jason Jolkowski - Site aimed at finding missing young adult, Jason Jolkowski.
Meta Description: [ This website was built with love to find our missing young adult son, Jason Jolkowski. We also hope that sharing our experience will help others who may be in the same situation. ]
Jerry Mosher - Search for a missing accordion stylist and singer of popular songs.
Looking for Dorothy Margaret Kell - Searching the Kell family who have not been seen by me since 1967
Looking for Missy Fowler - Melinda (Missy) Fowler, formerly of Greenville, SC.
Marshall, Billy - Missing 23 years. From Humble, Texas.
Martin, Elizabeth - Attempting to find a lost family member.
Massey, Richard - Missing since December 2003 while living and working in New York.
Michelle Fawcett - Missing since June 27, 1997 last seen at the Donegal exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Meta Description: [ MICHELE FAWCETT:MISSING from Pennsylvania since June 27, 1997. ]
Michelle Goldstein - Missing since 11 September, 98th floor World Trade Center.
Mike Finnegan - Dedicated to finding a missing father, Mike Finnegan
Meta Description: [ Dies ist die Defaultseite des Members Webspace von aon.at. ]
Miscovich, William - 'Willie' from Chicago disappeared after a day of motorcycle riding with friends. Photos and information.
Pierrepont School, Surrey, UK - A site to enable reunions.
Meta Description: [ A site designed solely for the benefit of any 'Old Boys' from Pierrepont School who are trying to rediscover lost mates. ]
Rose, Kitty Lillian - Search for birth relatives.
Samuel Crandall - Mysterious disapperance of a physicist at NPL
Smith, Eugene - Personal search.
Meta Description: [ Eugene Smith Kirkland Douglas Donna Robert Eugene Smith Missing Person,robert roach,betty roach,robby,roach,william ]
St. Marks Class of '49 - Trying to locate classroom friends of St.Marks School, Worsley, Manchester, between 1946-1950.
Suzanne Lyall - Last seen Monday, March 2, 1998 on the University at Albany Uptown Campus.
Meta Description: [ Missing Person - Suzanne Lyall ]
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Teresa R. Kingsley - Born 3/26/72 was lost to us through adoption on 2/80.
Turner, Graham - Web site created by a father in the hope of reconnecting with his daughter Hannah. Describes the story of their family, with personal histories.
Unknown, Andrew - Searching for natural father, who was a soldier in the Canadian Army, stationed in North Germany in 1956, where he met my mother.
What Happened to Grace and Little Gracie? - Describes the author's search for Grace Canto Reapp and her daughter Gracie Noel Reapp.
Meta Description: [ missing person(s) Grace Canto Reapp and her five-year-old daughter, Gracie Noel Reapp, have been missing from Jericho, VT, since June 6, 1978. ]
Who is my British father? - Seeking British allied father, he has served in the thirty Army Corps of Brian Horrorocks.
Wright, Desiree - Looking for lost love, Desiree Wright who used to live in Gautier, Mississippi.
Yokkaichi, Zen - Yokkaichi Toko looking for Yokkaichi Zen or Suzumoto Zen. Last seen in Akamura Japan in the 1980s.
Meta Description: [ Toko Yokkaichi looking for Zen Yokkaichi or Zen Suzumoto ]
Zhang, Helen - Helen Zhang, from Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, a graduate from Xi'an Jiaotong University.
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