Google vs Ecosia (Tech Review)
Article reviewing using Ecosia, a new search engine, over the established Google search engine.
Two Month Goal: Plant 100 Trees.
What is Ecosia?
Ecosia is a new search engine that plants trees through online searches. Their business model is simple: donate 80% of their profits towards planting trees. But how does Ecosia exactly work? And more importantly, how is such a business model sustainable? These questions are probably the reasons why many more people aren’t using Ecosia. To many, this level of good-will and transparency can only spell bad news. In all honesty, at first I was a bit skeptical of Ecosia’s mission. However, after digging a little deeper and learning about Ecosia’s platform, I feel that everyone add Ecosia as chrome add-on. Google maybe King however it’s time for a little shake up.
Who runs Ecosia?
The company is based in Berlin and was started in 2009, however; it has gained recent traction through a very aggressive marketing campaign that many of you have probably seen on youtube.
What may come to many as a surprise, Ecosia isn’t completely it’s own enterprise. Ecosia actually runs through Bing! Yes, through their partnership with Microsoft Bing, Ecosia is able to generate more revenue (premium ads) and provide a similar layout that a user would expect from Google. This partnership may be one of the biggest reasons for why Ecosia is becoming a larger player.
Why should you use Ecosia?
I’ve personally only been using Ecosia for a few weeks now(planted 4 trees so far), but what I can say is that it works just as well as Google. Navigating the user interface comes with as much ease as a Google search. However, what you get in return is this small tree counter in the upper-left hand corner of the screen indicating how many trees you’ve contributed to planting. When half the queries on internet are for memes and pictures of avocado toast, how can we not be feel the responsibility for making an active effort in doing something for the greater good. If you find yourself passively scouring the internet, what prevents you from giving back while you do it?Being able to utilize the internet is a privilege in itself. Why not do something beneficial at the same time.
Will Ecosia take over Google?
In short, no! Ecosia and Google’s search engine still generate revenue in much the same way — through advertisements. However, what Ecosia, a small registered B-coperation, does dwarfs in size when it comes to Google’s thousands of side projects.
Even though Ecosia will probably never topple Google’s strangle hold on search queries, Ecosia’s business model has a very important message: save this earth. Thus, the larger the network of people using Ecosia; the more trees that are planted.
What makes this such an important issue is how we hold companies responsible for taking more active stances on social programs. I’m sure Google does its fair share for making the planet better. But by pushing more companies to take active stances on environmental concerns, we can expect companies to reserve more funds towards charitable causes.
Thank you so much for reading this. To find more information about how Ecosia works, visit their website https://www.ecosia.org/. Also make sure to shoot a follow on Ecosia’s social like facebook, instagram and twitter. I hope to do thing kinda similar before the end of my Spring Break! Also, if you liked my article, give a couple claps my way, I desperately need them.