Tree planting search engine Ecosia launched a brand new cross-platform browser at present to extend its on-line footprint.
The brand new browser, accessible for Mac, Home windows, iOS, and Android, is constructed on high of Chromium. That’s why there aren’t many function variations from Chrome. The corporate sees that as a very good factor as folks may be tempted to modify over with out letting go of their net searching routine. Nonetheless, you may customise the touchdown web page and take away sections — resembling high websites or local weather impression — that aren’t to your liking.
Michael Metcalf, Ecosia’s chief product officer, instructed TechCrunch over a name that the corporate constructed a browser to broaden its sustainable presence.
“The main reason we are building a browser is because we want to go where our users are and start to expand the footprint of where they can be sustainable. Right now, our main use case is around search, but we want to expand into parts of browsing experiences,” Metcalf mentioned.
Ecosia can be beginning an affiliate procuring program with the launch of this new browser. Customers will see hyperlinks to procuring websites like Amazon, eBay, and Decathlon beneath the sponsored hyperlinks part.
The corporate mentioned all the cash earned by affiliate revenues will go in the direction of planting timber and backing different inexperienced tasks. Via this sort of funding, Ecosia has dedicated to producing 25Wh of unpolluted power per consumer every day they browse.
Metcalf mentioned that whereas the corporate promotes decrease consumption, it’s conscious that folks store incessantly, and with the associates program, they’ve a chance to provide again.
Sooner or later, the corporate needs to enhance the affiliate procuring interface, combine its AI chatbot, and add extra customization to the browser.
It’s powerful to ask folks to alter their browsers, so the corporate goals to focus on its present consumer base of 20 million initially, together with advertising and marketing focused in the direction of informal inexperienced customers. The corporate mentioned that it was proud of the retention price in its early beta testing. Nonetheless, it doesn’t have any information on whether or not there was any impression on the quantity of Ecosia searches when a consumer switches to the corporate’s browser.
Ecosia made a couple of structural adjustments to its search engine final 12 months. After years of utilizing Bing as a sole search supplier, the corporate began experimenting with Google search in markets like Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, and the Philippines. The corporate makes use of System1, which syndicates search outcomes from Microsoft Bing, Startpage, and Data.com in different geographies.
Earlier this 12 months, Ecosia additionally crossed the mark of planting greater than 200 million timber throughout 95,000 places worldwide.