How does Ecosia work?
Ecosia works as a search interface that shows results from partner indexes and earns money from search ads. When a user clicks an ad, Ecosia receives a share of the ad revenue and spends its profits on tree planting and other climate projects. The search itself is free and needs no account.
According to Ecosia’s help centre, results and ads come from these providers:
- Microsoft Bing: available to all users and the main source in some countries.
- Google: used only in certain regions and browsers.
- EUSP: the European index built with Qwant, live in France first.
- Microsoft Advertising and Google AdSense for Search: the two ad sources.
The provider depends on location, device and cookie settings, and it can change between searches.
History of Ecosia: key dates
Ecosia grew from a one-person project into Europe’s best known green search engine.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 7 December 2009 | Christian Kroll launches Ecosia |
| April 2014 | Ecosia becomes the first German company certified as a B Corp |
| October 2018 | Owners give up the right to sell the company or take profits, via the Purpose Foundation |
| July 2020 | 100 million trees planted |
| 22 April 2024 | Ecosia Browser for desktop launches |
| November 2024 | Ecosia and Qwant announce the European Search Perspective joint venture |
| 21 January 2025 | Firefox adds Ecosia as a default search option in several European markets |
| 6 August 2025 | First queries are served from Staan, the joint European index |
Ecosia market share in numbers
Ecosia is a niche search engine with its strongest base in Germany. Statcounter’s September 2026 data gives Ecosia 1.03% of searches in Germany, slightly behind DuckDuckGo at 1.07%. In Poland its share is 0.18%, so Polish traffic from Ecosia is small, but the users who choose it tend to be climate-conscious buyers who shop with that in mind.
Ecosia in SEO and marketing
Ecosia matters to marketers because ranking in Ecosia mostly means ranking in Bing and Google. The sections below explain what that means in practice.
Ecosia SEO
Ecosia has no webmaster tool, so optimising for it means getting indexed and ranking in Bing and Google. In my SEO projects for the German market I verify sites in Bing Webmaster Tools for exactly this reason: it covers Bing, Ecosia’s Bing-powered results, Yahoo and Copilot at once.
The European index (Staan)
Staan (Search Trusted API Access Network) is the index built by European Search Perspective, the joint venture of Ecosia and Qwant, and the stated goal is to reduce Europe’s reliance on US search giants. For SEO, it means a third crawler and index to watch, starting in France and Germany.
Ecosia ads
Advertisers cannot buy Ecosia ads directly. Ads appear through Microsoft Advertising and Google’s search network, so they are managed in those platforms.
Ecosia vs other privacy-friendly search engines
| Feature | Ecosia | DuckDuckGo | Brave Search |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany | Pennsylvania, USA | San Francisco, USA |
| Main promise | Profits for climate projects | Privacy, no tracking | Privacy and own index |
| Share in Germany (Sept 2026) | 1.03% | 1.07% | Not listed |
All three are alternatives to Google in the wider search engine market, and none of them has more than about 1% share in Poland.
Frequently asked questions about Ecosia
Who owns Ecosia?
Ecosia was founded by Christian Kroll, who is still CEO, with Tim Schumacher as co-owner. Since October 2018 a share is held by the Purpose Foundation, and the owners cannot sell the company or take its profits.
Does Ecosia really plant trees?
Ecosia funds tree planting with profits from search ads and reports more than 251 million trees planted on its homepage. In recent years it has also funded other climate projects.
Does Ecosia use Google or Bing?
Ecosia uses both. According to its help centre, Bing is available to all users, Google only in some regions and browsers, and its own European index EUSP started in France.
How do I rank on Ecosia?
You rank on Ecosia by ranking in Bing and Google, because Ecosia shows their results. Verifying your site in Bing Webmaster Tools is the most direct step.
Related terms
- Ecosia Search Results: Where are they coming from · Ecosia Help Center
- Ecosia homepage (tree counter and users) · Ecosia
- Qwant and Ecosia debut Staan, a European search index · TechCrunch
- Search Engine Market Share in Poland and Germany · Statcounter
- Ecosia · Wikipedia
