Observed Signal · Nov 13, 2024 · Partnership · Source: OnlineMarketing.de · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Ecosia and Qwant Build European Independent Search Index
German search engine Ecosia and French search engine Qwant announced the formation of European Search Perspective (EUSP), a 50/50 joint venture to develop an independent European search index. The venture is led by Qwant CEO Olivier Abecassis. First results are anticipated as early as 2025, with the index intended to reduce reliance on Google and Bing and potentially serve other independent search engines and tech companies. The project is framed as a step toward Europe’s digital sovereignty and could underpin AI developments in the region. Ecosia founder Christian Kroll and Génica Schäfgen, Head of Ecosia Germany, described the move as a milestone for Europe’s digital sovereignty and privacy-conscious search values. Until the transition, the partners would remain dependent on legacy search providers, while the new index aims to empower European tech players and researchers.
New European independent search index joint venture with potential industry impact
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Ecosia and Qwant formed the joint venture European Search Perspective (EUSP) with 50/50 ownership.
- Olivier Abecassis (CEO of EUSP) leads the new venture.
- First search results from the new European index are expected in 2025.
- The index could be made available to other independent search engines and tech companies.
- The move is framed as advancing Europe’s digital sovereignty.
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Ecosia rolls out own search index results in Germany
Ecosia has begun rolling out search results in Germany that come from its own search index, aiming to reduce dependence on Google and other large providers. The company uses the European Search Perspective (EUSP) index—built with Qwant and used by Lilo—and says it already serves a majority of queries through the index in France since 2025. CEO Christian Kroll announced the German rollout on LinkedIn and indicated Ecosia could serve a large portion of German queries from the index by year-end. The move is framed alongside recent EU action against Google under the Digital Markets Act and the emergence of the Staan search API as part of a broader European search infrastructure.
European Search Index Staan Launches Self‑Serve API
Staan, the first European web search index, has made its Search API available as a self‑service product for developers. Built in collaboration between Ecosia and Qwant (with involvement from the joint venture European Search Perspective / EUSP) in 2025, the index aims to provide a sovereign alternative to U.S. Big Tech search services for AI agents, assistants and KI-driven search features. Staan already supplies search results and content to Ecosia, Qwant and the solidarity search engine Lilo, and the project emphasises EU privacy standards (including GDPR) and transparency. The article notes broader EU policy efforts to reduce tech dependence on the U.S. and that Qwant has been named the EU Parliament's default search engine.
Ecosia Launches Sustainable AI Overviews and AI Search
Ecosia, the Berlin-based green search engine, unveiled AI Overviews and an AI-powered search experience designed to be sustainable and privacy-focused. The AI Overviews pull results from Ecosia’s own European Search Perspective (EUSP) index, developed with Qwant, offering context-rich summaries and sources. A companion AI Search with a chat mode mirrors features seen in Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode but remains anchored to Ecosia’s own index to reduce external data use. Ecosia emphasizes energy sustainability: the AI features run on energy from solar and wind, and the company says it generates more energy than it consumes and reinvests 100% of profits into sustainability projects. In the German market, Ecosia holds around 1.4% share, competing with Google, Bing, and Yandex. The company has invested €2 million in expanding a German solar park and uses tools like EcoLogits and Hugging Face AI Energy Score to monitor energy usage. AI services can be disabled, and AI models used are non-named, smaller models to optimize efficiency.
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