I'm afraid it's true, I rarely use another search engine. Yes, I know I should, I've heard all the search engine experts say so. Reliable statistics and studies demonstrate how little overlap there is in search results between the major search engines. Many even believe that Google results are becoming less relevant. But there, at the top of my browser, sits the Google toolbar, calling to me, beckoning, so easy, so satisfying.
There may be a cure, the "Mother of All Toolbars," called Groowe. Mary Ellen Bates reviews this new search toolbar, which is actually 17 toolbars in one, in her "Tip of the Month" for March.
There's no time like the present so I installed it this afternoon. It's just the thing to help me, as Mary Ellen puts it, bond with a new search engine, or at least put a little variety in my search engine life.
I may be having some trouble letting go. I immediately changed the default search engine from Overture to Google. Oh well, these things take time. Does anyone know of a good support group? And does anyone know how to pronounce Groowe??
It is very easy to always turn to Google, but I've tried to wean myself from the Google habit by spending part of my time at HotBot. HotBot lets you choose among HotBot, Google, Lycos and AskJeeves. I can switch between search engines with a couple of clicks, which is quite handy when comparing results. It's even better if you can use Netscape to open results in new tabbed windows, but I can only do that from home.
There was an article in the Sunday New York Times ("In Searching We Trust") that discusses the Google phenomenon.