Ecosia search system: features of the company’s work
The search engine Ecosia from Germany uses algorithms that are different from those used for other search engines. In this case, the program does not have its own search index and database, it takes the results from other systems. The company’s income depends on the advertisement presented in the system, and 80 percent of Ecosia’s income is spent on environmental initiatives, among which the main focus is on increasing the number of forests and landscaping.
It recently became known that the search engine has invested about $1 million in the start-up TreeCard. The latter makes payment cards out of wood. In exchange for the capital invested, Ecosia received 20% of the company’s shares.
In addition to the cards themselves, TreeCard provides a mobile application that allows you to carry out various payment operations, control costs and when paying bills in institutions to share it between all participants of the dinner. The peculiarity of the startup is the environmental component – part of the users’ expenses are directed to the planting of trees, and the cardholders and the application can track the amount and where it was spent. TreeCard wooden cards have the same features as any other Mastercard credit card. It can make contactless payments and mobile payments.
The startup plans to expand the number of users to 100 thousand and more. This will raise funds for the planting of about 6 million trees. Revenues from operations that will be carried out in the payment system, will go to environmental projects in 38 different parts of the world.
The objectives of Ecosia and TreeCard in terms of restoring green spaces on the planet are fully consistent. As for the search engine, it planned to plant a billion trees by 2020, but the pandemic has made its adjustments. This year, the company has resumed this activity and is actively investing in forest conservation.
Every person who uses Ecosia contributes to socially important initiatives. Through a mobile application from a search engine, you can track how many trees have been planted during the time when the user uses Ecosia.
The search engine was formed in 2009, its creator is Christian Kroll, and in 2014 he was joined by Schumacher. The main office is located in Berlin. The Ecosia work model allows the company to transfer to environmental programs from 20 to 100 thousand euros per month. Part of the search engine revenue comes from advertising from online stores and a number of other projects.
For its activities, the company purchases electricity exclusively from renewable sources. However, many critics do not consider the Ecosia approach effective. First of all, they question the amount of money that the search engine spends on the purchase of electricity, as it does not provide access to this financial information.
