Finally, an alternative to Google: Ecosia.org is the 'search engine that plants trees'

The Berlin-based start-up Ecosia is a search engine that donates 80 percent of its income to rainforest protection. The concept caught on: Some 1.3 million Euros were collected for WWF in the first three years. Ecosia meanwhile boasts some 200,000 users and 20 million searches a month.

After months of development, Ecosia released a completely revamped version of its search engine, including improvements to search quality that let it compete with the best -- making it a true alternative to Google & Co.. Ecosia gives users the chance to help the environment for free without forcing them to compromise on search results.

Ecosia wants to plant a million trees over the next year. To make it happen, Ecosia is partnering with the renowned environmental protection organization The Nature Conservancy. A total of $1 million is planned for donation to the organization's Plant A Billion Trees program.

As the search engine that plants trees, Ecosia wants to turn green niche products into a mass phenomenon. The most important updates to the new version are:

Improved search results A new design and logo with faster loading times Donations now go to the Plant A Billion Trees program, plus Ecosia now measures its contribution in trees planted. This allows users to track how many trees they have helped to plant. Ecosia is now available as an app for smartphones (iPhone, Android, Windows) and tablets (iPad, Android), in addition to browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome. Ecosia now also incorporates green information into search results, including sustainable shopping tips and news

At the heart of it all, Ecosia's mission remains to make the world a more sustainable place. We still donate 80% of our ad revenue, and we're still 100% CO2 neutral. To keep donations completely transparent, Ecosia publishes monthly donation receipts with certification.

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