Tree-planting search engine Ecosia today released a new cross-platform browser to expand its online footprint.
This new browser is available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android and is built on Chromium. Therefore, there are not many functional differences with Chrome. The company believes this is a good thing, as people may be tempted to switch without letting go of their web browsing habits. However, you can customize your landing page and remove sections that don't suit your tastes, such as Top Sites or Climate Impact.
Image credit: Ecosia
Michael Metcalf, Ecosia's chief product officer, told TechCrunch by phone that the company developed the browser to expand its sustainable presence.
“The main reason we're building the browser is because we want to go where our users are and start growing our user sustainable footprint. Right now, our primary use case is It's around search, but we also want to extend it to parts of the browsing experience,” Metcalfe said.
With the release of this new browser, Ecosia is also launching an affiliate shopping program. Users will see links to his Amazon, eBay, Decathlon, and other shopping sites under the Sponsored Links section.
The company said all affiliate profits will go toward supporting tree planting and other environmental projects. Through this kind of investment, Ecosia has promised that for every day a user views he will generate 25Wh of clean energy per person.
Mr Metcalf said that while the company is promoting reduced consumption, it recognizes that people shop frequently and there is an opportunity to give back to them through its affiliate program. .
In the future, the company hopes to improve the affiliate shopping interface, integrate an AI chatbot, and add more customization to the browser.
It's difficult to ask people to change their browsers, so the company aims to initially target its current user base of 20 million people, with marketing aimed at casual green users. The company said it was pleased with the retention rate in early beta testing. However, there is no data on whether he had an impact on Ecosia's search volume when users switched to the company's browser.
Ecosia made several structural changes to its search engine last year. After years of using Bing as its sole search provider, the company began experimenting with Google Search in markets such as Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, and the Philippines. The company uses his System1 to syndicate search results from Microsoft Bing, Startpage, and Info.com in other regions.
Earlier this year, Ecosia also achieved its goal of planting more than 200 million trees in 95,000 locations around the world.