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Ecosia

EU verified

German public-benefit search engine that plants trees with its profits – privacy-friendly, but uses Bing as its search backend.

Website
70
Confidence: high

Ecosia is a German, public-benefit (steward-owned) search engine from Berlin that invests 100% of its profits in climate action – mainly tree planting – and publishes monthly financial reports. Ecosia builds no personal profiles and, as a German company, is subject to the GDPR. Important context: Ecosia does not run its own search index but sources results via Microsoft Bing (partly Google) – so the search backend is with a US provider. As an alternative to Google, Ecosia stands out mainly through its social/ecological mission and company-level privacy.

Note on ownership: German, public-benefit search engine (Ecosia GmbH, Berlin, steward-owned), founded in 2009. Ecosia dedicates 100% of profits to climate action (mainly tree planting) and builds no personal profiles. Important context: search results are sourced via Microsoft Bing (partly Google) – Ecosia runs no own index, and the search backend is with a US provider.

Strengths

  • German, public-benefit company (steward-owned)
  • 100% of profits for climate action, transparent reports
  • No personal profiles, GDPR
  • Very easy switch from Google

Weaknesses

  • No own index – results via Microsoft Bing (US backend)
  • Not open source, no self-hosting
  • Consider data flows to the search backend

Best for

  • • Users who value climate action and a fair mission
  • • Privacy-conscious users who don't need an own index
  • • Organisations with a sustainability focus

Less suited for

  • • Those wanting maximum sovereignty with a European own index

Sovereignty Score & weitere Bewertungen

Sovereignty Score70
Privacy Score80
Open Source Score10
Business fit72
Enterprise readiness66
Pricing transparency82

Deutsches, gemeinwohlorientiertes Unternehmen mit starkem Datenschutz auf Unternehmensebene; Souveränitäts-Score gedämpft, da die Suchergebnisse über Microsoft Bing (US-Backend) kommen.

The Sovereignty Score is an editorial orientation aid, not legal advice. How we rate.

Alternative to

Google Suche

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