This Eco-Friendly Search Engine Got a 1150% App And Browser Download Increase Since The Amazon Rainforest Fires Began

Source: https://www.gpsworld.com

A search engine called Ecosia is the eco-friendly competitor of Google which saw a 1150% downloads increase in just one day for its search app and computer browser extensions since the blazes of the Amazon rainforest begun.

Though it seems like a regular search engine, Ecosia is a non-profit company that donates 80% of revenue from their search ads to tree planting.

This charitable company has been in the market for a decade and relies on Microsoft’s Bing search engine for a partnership on its search results and display ads.

The 80% profits they donate go to tree-planting projects located in countries like Brazil, Madagascar and Ethiopia. To date, Ecosia has successfully planted 65 million trees.


Source: https://www.nbc4i.com

Last Thursday, August 22, app installations of this search engine had a huge spike at the exact moment the media covered the shocking Amazon rainforest fire. Before this outrage, the company mentioned to Business Insider that they were getting a daily average of 20,000 app and browser downloads.

This average had a significant increase since the fires, when it spiked to 250,000 downloads. If this installation rate will continue, they would have gained a million downloads in August alone.

Chief executive of Ecosia, Christian Kroll told Business Insider:

“We had our team meeting and people were, on the one side, very happy because of the numbers but also very sad because of the forest fires. So it’s both exciting and a tragic occurrence.” He also mentioned that there are a lot of Brazilian staffers that are working in the company.

He also added that Ecosia reached the top-ranked iOS app to be downloaded in Brazil recently.


Source: https://www.sierraclub.org/

Social media is highly responsible for making the app viral amongst different users. The app is mostly mentioned when the hashtag #PrayforAmazonia is used in Twitter and Instagram.

The Brazilian space research center INPE reported that just in 2019, there have already been 72,843 fires in the forest, which is an 83% increase from 2018.

Ecosia was founded by Kroll in 2009 after he travelled through Nepal and South America and experienced the destruction of nature in different parts of the world. What started as taking up a degree in business, he eventually became an environmentalist.

 “I didn’t really know about climate change, nor about many of the issues that are caused by globalization but after living there, I decided I wanted to do something that helps people,” he said. “In my opinion, planting trees helps people and the environment at the same time.”

 

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