Do your part: Visit an alternative search engine

Charles S. Knight has compiled a handy list of the top 100 alternative search engines on Read/Write Web. The one problem: No one has time to check them out.

Indeed, Knight notes that people use the four main search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.com) for 99.9% of their searches.

That fact leads to another issue. Knight writes:

"In that .01% lies a vast multitude of the most innovative and creative search engines you have never seen."

The conundrum: How do we get that innovation to bubble up? Knight talks about artificial intelligence, clustering engines and other neat techniques, but what good is it if it's never seen?

Knight notes that these upstarts are the equivalent of flies buzzing around an elephant to Google and he's right. But I'm uncomfortable with one company--even one that promises not to be evil--dominating search. Perhaps we should collectively do our part and visit a few of these alternative search engines. A little Fazzle.com, Factbites.com or Singing FISH anyone?