What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?  Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

James 2:14-17

I want to share with you a thought that I had today.

Do you know why Google dominates the Search space, and not the Top 100 Alternative search engines (or “Alts”) that out number the major search engines 20:1 (or 200:1 if you use the Master List of 1,000)?  And they are not just superior in number, they are, by the definition that we use, superior in quality, too.  So what’s the problem?  Well, we have discussed some of the challenges in this blog before, so don’t worry, I’m not going to just repeat them.

No, the reason why Google maintains such a commanding lead is because they have employees.

???

Think about it, every day hundreds, probably thousands of highly qualified individuals report to work at one of Google’s offices and work together on the common goal of dominating Search (among other things).

On “our side,” we have the Alts – and bloggers.  And what do bloggers do?  Well, that’s my question, just what do bloggers do?  Obviously they read a lot, and they write articles and posts for others to read.  They strive for more readers, more page views, more sponsors, and more  <sigh>  diggs.  And how does this help close the gap between the major search engines and the Alts?  Well, as far as I can tell, it doesn’t. This isn’t that hard – or profound.  Blogging -by itself- just gives Google more to crawl, while it holds out the promise of fame and fortune for the most successful.   

At AltSearchEngines, we believe that – to paraphrase Holy Scripture- blogging without works is dead.

Read/WriteWeb spun off a blog with 100% freedom to post about the Alts, for the benefit of the Alts.

AltSearchEngines hosts debates, CEO reports, Guest Authors, and reviews for the benefit of the Alts.

AltSearchEngines introduces compatible vendors and other Alts to each other, for the benefit of the Alts.

AltSearchEngines has set up a private forum for our international guides, for the benefit of the Alts.

AltSearchEngines has carefully used the LinkedIn program to bring search engines closer together.  My first circle has 235 relationships.  My second circle (my friends of friends) has 21,400.  We have forged these relationships for the benefit of the Alts.

AltSearchEngines and one of the Alts are planning the first ever Alternative search engine conference in March 2008, you got it, for the benefit of the Alts.

We have formed an inner circle of bloggers who are interested not just in Search, but in changing the direction of Search, for the benefit of the Alts (i.e. changing it in their favor).

We email, we Skype, we plan and we plot.  We write posts and leave comments, we invite and encourage.  We are forever seeking kindred spirits and like-minded bloggers.  And by like-minded, I mean that we do not see an endless succession of posts, no matter how many diggs, as anything even approaching useful for the cause of the Alts.

As Michael Douglas, playing President Andrew Sheppard, says in The American President: “These are serious times, and we need serious answers from serious people.”

Only when those who blog about Search decide that they ought to be doing something about fixing Search will any progress be made.  But there’s the rub, many bloggers don’t believe that Search is broken, it’s just evolving, and their job is to write about that.

Google employees come together every day, and they work together to figure out what things they will do to extend their reach into every aspect of society.  And what do we do?  We write posts about them.  That’ll show them!  I wish that someone would explain to me how simply writing about the latest moves by Google -or the Alts- slows the major search engines down or helps the competition to catch up.

I don’t see it. 

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at 7:33 pm and is filed under Guest Authors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.