Planet-friendly web search, Ecosia, offer to take over Google Chrome

The non-for-profit search engine, Ecosia, has announced that it is making an offer to take over the stewardship of Google Chrome. 

‘Imagine the world’s most powerful browser working for a livable planet,’ said the firm in a LinkedIn post. 

Earlier this year, took place the Google search antitrust trial in the US on the remedies of Judge Amit Mehta’s 2024 decision that Google has an illegal monopoly in internet search and advertising. The ruling expected later this month could force the tech-giant to contemplate the idea of parting with its billion-user web browser, Chrome. 

AI start-up Perplexity grabbed headlines last week as it announced it was making a $34.5bn bid for the Google browser, setting the road for others such as OpenAI to start expressing interest in Google Chrome. 

In a LinkedIn post, Ecosia offered to take over Google Chrome stating that it could be a ‘tool for the planet’. 

Ecosia proposes a new concept for this take over which entails that Google keep ownership of Chrome.

‘But Ecosia would steward it for 10 years — keeping it secure and independent, while putting its profits toward climate action,’ the post said, ‘we propose dedicating 60% of that to restoring the planet, while the remaining 40% would return to Google.

According to Ecosia, this could lead to $80bn more to restore forests across Brazil, Africa and the rest of the world, $300bn to scale clean energy and even $10bn in regenerative farming. 

The eco-friendly web browser was founded in Germany in 2009 and uses its profits from search ads to fund tree-planting and reforestation projects worldwide. The platform currently has around 20 million users internationally, with a majority located in France and Germany. 

Further information can be found on TechCrunch’s post.