Sustainable search engines as an alternative to GoogleIs there an
sustainable search engine than real alternative to Google? As useful as the search engine is, the company also has to deal with justified criticisms time and again – z.B. Power consumption, data collection or tax tricks. Even though Google is doing a lot for sustainability on our planet, I therefore set out to find sustainable alternatives to Google.
In this article I will now introduce you to green search engines that you can use as an alternative to Google for your next search queries.
Here is another brief table of contents about the article:
Why a sustainable alternative to Google?
Surely you have been using Google as a search engine for a few years or decades as well. The search engine and the company behind it have developed enormously during this time. With about 90% market share₁ and $39.27 billion in revenue in quarter 4/2019₂, the company not only dominates the search engine market.
But some Criticism come up again and again, which make people look for alternatives to Google:
1. Electricity consumption of the search engine
Google's data centers have a huge energy consumption. Each single search query consumes 0,0003 kilowatt. Your own search queries alone could power a 60-watt light bulb for 3 hours in a month.₃ To the company's credit, it was already able to meet its global energy needs with 100% renewable energy in 2017.₄
2. Google as a data octopus
The company reads users' usage data for advertising purposes. Whether you're doing a search query at home on your laptop or using Google Maps to navigate you to a friend's house. Google knows where you are. What interests you. Also because Google Chrome is now the market leader among browsers with 63.3%.₅
3. The company pays hardly any taxes in Germany
Large corporations like Google pay hardly any taxes in Germany with (still) legal tax tricks. In 2016, 16 billion. Euro out of Germany.₆ Google uses the so-called "Double Irish With A Dutch Sandwich" trick, whose name refers to two Irish and one Dutch company in the search engine.
However, Google is also making heavy investments in sustainability. For example, the search engine has launched platforms such as Global Fishing Watch to help control the environmental problem of overfishing in the oceans. Technology monitors the activities of fisheries on the planet in real time.
Nevertheless, it is also worth using alternatives to the Google search engine to research answers to daily questions.
Sustainable search engines as Google alternative
But which search engines can I use to achieve a sustainable effect for my daily search queries and achieve a similar quality of search results as I am used to??
In the following I would like to answer this question now by giving you more detailed info about the three most used sustainable search engines.
1. Ecosia.org
Under the leadership of Christian Kroll, Ecosia GmbH was founded in 2009 with the goal of changing the environment and society in a sustainable way. Today, about every 45th search query on Ecosia ensures that a tree is planted in the world. It all depends on how much you, as a user, also use the advertisements in the search results – as with Google too. Through the ads search engines like Ecosia then earn their money. The company then invests 80% of the surplus revenue in non-profit organizations – mainly to counteract the environmental problem of deforestation and to plant trees. Am 13.02.In 2019, Ecosia announced it had already planted 50 million trees through the help of its users.₇
Advantages of using Ecosia at a glance:
– Ecosia plants a tree for your searches to stop climate change – High privacy adjustable for your searches – 80% of excess revenue is donated to charities₈ – Purpose company that can't be sold₉
2. Gexsi.com
The alternative search engine Gexsi (short for "Global Exchange for Social Investment") is in the background a platform for social investments. The revenue generated by the use of the search engine can be viewed transparently and is invested in projects that contribute to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. For example to promote sustainability in production& The company is committed to the protection of the environment, consumerism, the fight against climate change, marine conservation, and access to education for all children on the planet. Every two weeks the company presents the support of a project very specifically.
Benefits of using Gexsi at a glance:
– Is geared towards achieving the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 – Can be installed as an add-on for Google Chrome, Safari and also Firefox browsers – Revenue from search queries is donated
3. Qwant.com (another Google alternative)
The Qwant search engine is an alternative to Google primarily because it promises absolute privacy. No cookies, no tracking software. This company also earns its money from users' clicks on ads in search results, which, compared to other search engines, are based precisely not on previous browser data, but only on the search term entered. According to its own information, the search engine. The team's work 100% powered by electricity from renewable sources.
Advantages of using Qwant at a glance:
Comprehensive features to preserve one's privacy Alternative search engine without behavioral tracking Thus promotes the "digital ecosystem" on the Internet
Which sustainable search engine is the best?
64.000 searches per second₁₀ – the pursuit of knowledge can be used even more wisely through sustainable search engines to specifically benefit society and the environment.
I can only advise you to try out the alternatives to Google and answer the question of the ideal, environmentally friendly search engine yourself. You now know the facts about the providers – and if your search queries are also answered on an alternative search engine, then you've probably already found your answer.
By the way there are also
Search engines for more specific topics, which you can also use alternatively. For example:
GoodJobs.eu for the search for sustainable jobs VeggieSearch as a search engine for vegan products CodeCheck.info to search for ingredients of products (z.B. to avoid microplastics in cosmetics)
Do you have any questions, tips or your own experiences with search engines that you would like to share? Then feel free to write a comment below this post.
Stay clean and a good search for answers at any time,
PS.: I don't want to attack Google with this article, but only present alternative business models of other providers, who for example create an additional added value in the daily search queries by planting trees.
PPS.: Do you want to be more involved with the environment? Then get inspired in the environmental protection blog and inform yourself, for example, about the reasons for which the food giant Nestle is in criticism.
References:
₁ https://de.statista.com/statistics/data/study/225953/survey/the-world's-most-used-search-engines
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Welcome to CareElite! I am Christoph. Started this blog. Here I write about sustainability, environmental protection, a natural-healthy life and personal development.