Ecosia and Qwant Team Up to Challenge Google's Search Dominance

Two European search engines, Ecosia and Qwant, are joining forces to build a European search index and reduce their dependence on US tech giants like Google, reports CNBC.

The companies have formed a joint venture, called the European Search Perspective (EUSP), with equal ownership. The venture, set to launch in France in early 2025, aims to provide improved French and German language search results.

Ecosia, based in Berlin, is known for its focus on sustainability, planting a tree for every 50 searches. Qwant, headquartered in Paris, emphasizes privacy, promising not to track users or resell their personal data.

The partnership is driven by the desire to challenge Google's dominance in the search market, which currently holds over 90% of the global market share. Even alternative search engines like Ecosia and Qwant rely on existing tech from companies like Microsoft to deliver search results.

Christian Kroll, CEO of Ecosia, attributes the project's feasibility to the new tech-focused competition rules in the European Union. The Digital Markets Act, which came into effect earlier this year, requires large tech companies to offer fair and reasonable access to their platforms. This means Google is required to share data that could be used to train a search model.

Building a European Search Index from Scratch

The EUSP venture will create a new search index from the ground up, gathering results from a variety of search engines. Ecosia switched to a combination of Google and Bing search results last year.

Ecosia and Qwant state that their new search index will be "privacy-first," utilizing Qwant's redesigned privacy-focused technologies. The index will be used by both companies and made available to other independent search engines and tech firms.

This initiative comes as alternative search providers face rising prices from Microsoft to access its Bing Search API.

"We are European companies and we need to build technology that makes sure no third-party decision — for instance, Microsoft’s decision to increase costs to access their search API — could jeopardize our business," Olivier Abecassis, CEO of Qwant, told CNBC.

"It is nothing against the U.S. or U.S. companies. It is all about the sovereignty of our business and companies," he added. Abecassis will also serve as CEO of the new venture.

A Shift Towards AI

The EUSP venture will offer a "transparent and secure data pool" for new AI technologies, according to the companies.

"They know they’re sitting on a very important resource for this paradigm shift," said Kroll, referring to Google's dominance in search. "Yes, you need large language models to have good chatbots. But you also need access to a good index."

The rise of OpenAI's ChatGPT has put pressure on Google, as users increasingly turn to the chatbot for information. A wave of new search engines, such as Perplexity, have also emerged, offering AI-based alternatives to Google.

Google has responded by integrating its Gemini large language model into its search results.