Searching the Web
We ’ ve have all heard about Google ’ s threat to withdraw its Web search engine from Australia . Whether it does that or not , there are some interesting alternatives we could consider :
Search the web , save the planet
Ecosia : An interesting and recent proposal of an alternative web search engine is
http :// ecosia . org . This system is unique as it focuses on sustainability and positive climate impact .
Its mission is to reinvest the income generated by search advertisements ( the same business model Google Search is using ) to
plant trees in key areas around the world .
So far , it says it has 15 million users and has contributed to planting more than 100 million trees , about 1.3 every second .
Search the web , protect your privacy
DuckDuckGo :
html . duckduckgo . com / html / is a search engine that has recently risen in popularity thanks to a commitment to protecting its users ’ privacy .
Contrary to the web search products from Google and Microsoft , DuckDuckGo does not store its users ’ search queries or track their interactions with the system .
The quality of DuckDuckGo ’ s search results has improved over time , and is now
comparable to that of the most popular search engines . It says it now processes a daily average of more than
90 million search queries , up from just over 51 million the same time last year .
Despite not drawing on users ’ data to refine its search algorithms , the technology behind DuckDuckGo and other smaller players is based on the same machine-learning methods that others are using .
St Margaret ’ s News 10 February 2021