• StraightUpSearch, Monday, October 29, 2007 1:30 PM

Despite their efforts to keep the word "Google" from becoming as generic as "Kleenex," or "Xerox," or "Band-Aid," the search giant's name is still synonymous with -- well, search. It's great for the company's market share, but bad for smaller, independent search engines, according to OneUpWeb's Chip.

While indies like Judy's Book and WiseNut are mere blips on the search landscape, they do add value and give searchers options that the giants don't provide. At least they used to. Both Judy's Book (a community-oriented search site) and WiseNut (pioneer of the "binoculars" feature that Ask.com currently uses) have been obliterated from the searchosphere -- most likely due to rising costs of operation and failure to generate enough traffic to stay afloat.

Some may argue that it's classic business Darwinism (i.e., they weren't strong, smart, or innovative enough to survive) but Chip notes that if users (and search marketers) want viable alternatives to "The Big Four," then they ought to use them before they all fade away.

Read the whole story at StraightUpSearch »