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What is Ecosia and why should you consider using it?
Posted by Stuart Walters on September 03, 2020
Ecosia is a search engine that is set out to save the planet! And yes, it’s as good as it sounds. Basically, when you use Ecosia for a search query you are directly contributing to non-profit organisations focused on reforestation and conservationism which basically means you’re planting trees and saving the planet!
According to the Ecosia website, it takes 45 searches to raise the funds for one tree to be planted. Each search query raises a few pence for the cause. Don’t worry, it’s free to use like Google or Bing because the money mainly comes from advertising (and a little bit from affiliate marketing and their online shop).
The advertising on Ecosia is powered by Bing, so if you use Microsoft Advertising, your ads might appear on Ecosia too. Bing Ads is now Microsoft Advertising and is second to Google Ads with regards to paid search. But, it’s easy to use and you can even import your Google Ads into Microsoft Ads meaning that you can advertise on both platforms with ease!
At a time where people are increasingly concerned about our planet and what we can do to help, small changes like this are important and something that more and more people are doing. We wrote about ethical marketing and how the marketer has a responsibility to think about their actions and how they can impact the people their message goes out to. In this blog we discussed the demand from the consumer for businesses to prove and show how they are doing good and addressing problems. This is all part of a social movement whereby people are more and more aware of what needs to change and what they can do, and in walks Ecosia.
The search engine has actually been around for some time now, having launched ten years ago in 2009. However, in light of recent rain forest fires in the Amazon and other increasing environment concerns, the site is increasing in popularity. It now has more 8 million daily users and people are making the switch so that the search engine is their default. You can even get an extension on Google Chrome to replace Google as your search engine – so its pretty easy to get on the bandwagon.
Ecosia search results used to be from a combination of Yahoo!, Bing and Wikipedia but now it is solely powered by Microsoft Bing. “Ecosia's search results and search ads are powered by Microsoft Bing. We use Bing's search technology, enhanced with Ecosia's own algorithms.” Which means it’s pretty much the same standard as any other search engine. So, should you make the switch?
We’d say it’s a pretty good search engine option. It’s powered in the same way as any other option (in fact it’s basically Bing but the money goes to charity) so unless you’re a loyal Google fiend, it’s a good switch option.
As far as advertising goes, for the case of PPC and paid search, if you advertise on Bing, your ads may well have come up on Ecosia. If you wish to have your ads shown only on Ecosia, then you need to go into your advanced settings and check ‘Bing, AOL, and Yahoo! Syndicated partners only’ and uncheck all other options. https://ecosia.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013115453-How-can-my-business-advertise-on-Ecosia- However, note that this doesn’t mean your site will only appear on Ecosia, but other partner sites too. If you wish to do that, follow these instructions on the Ecosia website.
You should think carefully before you take this step though, as the search engine is by no means as big as Google or even Bing yet, so if you want to reach the right people at the right time it’s worth not excluding a large proportion of your audience. Our recommendation would be to create Google Ads, transfer the campaign to Bing Ads and make sure that they show on partner sites too. That way you are not only increasing your impressions but you are also contributing to Ecosia.
If you’re confused about the whole ‘paid search’ thing, speak to one of our digital marketing team.
https://ecosia.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/206153381-Where-do-Ecosia-s-search-results-come-from-
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