This search engine has planted 109 million trees using advertisement income.
In 2019, Google made $133 billion from search ad revenue. On a per-user basis, that averages out to around $36 per user per year. But when it comes to search engines, Google is not the only game in town – it’s just the biggest. Alternative search engines like Ecosia are turning Web searches into instruments of positive change.
What Is Ecosia?
Ecosia is a search engine that uses search advertisement income to plant trees around the world. It uses monetisation strategies similar to Google’s but fills the earth with seedlings instead of filling its stakeholders’ pockets.
As of October 2020, Ecosia has planted more than 109 million trees, using the advertising income generated by more than 15 million users. It has more than 9,000 planting sites around the world on three continents.
Ecosia uses a privacy-friendly search ad policy to help users monetise their daily Internet tasks in an environmentally-friendly way. It costs nothing to users but generates benefits for everyone.
The Carbon-Negative Business Model
Data centre servers are incredibly power-hungry machines. If the Internet were a country, it would be the third-highest electricity consumer on the planet.
Every Ecosia search actively draws one kilogram of carbon dioxide from the planet’s atmosphere. Instead of remaining complacent with a carbon-neutral business model, Ecosia is carbon-negative. In fact, the company is dedicated to taking its energy infrastructure one step further. By the end of the year, it will become the first company to produce twice as much solar power as it needs. It has two solar plants in commission, both strategically located in Germany.
This means that Ecosia searches use 100% renewable energy and contribute to the fight against climate change. They accelerate the world’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources by producing and distributing a renewable surplus.
Complete Financial Transparency
Ecosia publishes its financial reports on a monthly basis. This gives users insight into exactly how much income the organisation has made, how much of its profits have been dedicated to green initiatives, and exactly how many trees have been planted on a monthly basis.
The company does not pay out dividends to its owners. It covers its operational costs, pays taxes and social security, invests in marketing and green initiatives, and uses the rest of its income to plant trees. Some of the countries in which Ecosia funds green initiatives include:
- Burkina Faso
- Madagascar
- Morocco
- Ghana
- Brazil
- Kenya
Start Planting Trees with Your Web Searches
Using Ecosia is easy. The organisation maintains a suite of extensions for all of the most popular browsers. Simply install the browser, select Ecosia as your preferred search engine in settings and let the software automatically direct your search queries onto Ecosia’s renewable servers. That’s it! Together, you and 15 million other Ecosia users can help combat climate change.
For more information, get in touch with the SMB Solutions team today.