How Trees Talk.

[Beartracks]

5. For those curious about Ecosia Search Engine...

This was new/news to me, so it might be for others, too!

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Ecosia is a web search engine based in Berlin, Germany, which donates 80% of its surplus income to nonprofit conservationist organizations, with a focus on tree planting. As a "social business", Ecosia is CO2-neutral and supports full financial transparency,and is certified by B-Lab as a B-corporation.

Ecosia's search results are powered by Bing and Ecosia's own search algorithms. Ecosia shows ads next to its search results, and are paid by their partners at Bing for every click on a sponsored link for having directed users to their advertisers. Payment from the advertisments vary depending on the competition on the keyword and the value of what is being advertised. Some search terms like "credit", "bank account", or "solar panel" come with more lucrative ads than for example "chocolate" or "sticky notes".

Considering that not every Ecosia user clicks on an ad every time they search, Ecosia states that on average a search raises around half a Euro cent. It takes about 44 searches (€0.22) to fund planting of a single tree. Additionally, the company assures that "algorithms [are] active, which are designed to detect fake clicks and invalidate them".

Ecosia also raises funds through its second product EcoLinks, a Browser Extension that allows users to donate for free to Ecosia through their online purchases. Operators of online shops pay a commission to Ecosia (usually a rate between 2 and 10%) if a user lands on their shop through clicking on an EcoLink and purchases an item or any service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosia

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