European search engines strive for independence from Bing

Ecosia and Qwant are planning to establish an independent search engine infrastructure in Europe in order to break away from the big internet companies. The new joint venture is intended to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty.

The European search engines Ecosia and Qwant have announced plans to establish their own search engine infrastructure in Europe in order to free themselves from their dependence on Microsoft’s Bing platform. The joint venture European Search Perspective (EUSP) is intended to help create an independent alternative to existing search technologies. “EUSP wants to contribute to Europe’s digital sovereignty,” explained the two companies.

Challenges of dependency

Until now, Ecosia and Qwant have been dependent on the search results of large internet companies. Ecosia uses a combination of Google and Bing results, while Qwant relies mainly on Bing. Both providers position themselves as alternatives to Google, but only have small market shares.

Ecosia and Qwant: visions and goals

Ecosia, known as a green search engine, invests its profits in environmental projects such as planting trees. Qwant, on the other hand, emphasizes the protection of its users’ privacy and advertises that it does not collect any personal data. Despite these unique selling points, the economic success of both companies has been limited to date.

Future plans and European index

The new company will operate outside of Ecosia’s non-profit model and plans to use investor capital for long-term expansion. The planned European index could also serve as a data pool for AI technologies and be licensed by other search engines. Christian Kroll, founder of Ecosia, sees this change as an opportunity to make the search engine market more competitive. The launch of the European search technology is planned for 2025, initially in France and later in Germany.

SDA