Bit hard when they weren't registered.
But since the change (uh oh there's that dirty word again!) to 406, which I am quite the fan of, there's been a lot less tip searching, effectively zero for me.
As for a waste? The false alarms yes, but you get idiots in all walks of life setting off false alarms (Emerg. Services calls etc) which you cannot stop.
But when it's real it's worth it. I bet if you or your family were the ones in need you'd be glad people went out looking. How can you determine its real or not without checking, have you got a better system for that Dick?
Bit hard to say "no, it costs too much it might be a waste" when you've got the family of the missing pleading you to help find their loved ones.