In a move to break Google's dominance in the global search market, European search companies Ecosia and Qwant have announced a joint venture. This partnership aims to develop a European search index, focusing on offering optimized French and German search results. The new enterprise, named "European Search Perspective" (EUSP), will be launched in France in 2025, with both companies holding equal stakes.
Ecosia, based in Berlin, is known for its eco-friendly approach, planting a tree for every 50 searches conducted on its platform. On the other hand, Paris-based Qwant is recognized for its commitment to user privacy, promising not to track users or sell their personal data. The collaboration was facilitated partly by new EU competition regulations, which encourage more open platforms from tech giants like Google.
The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), effective earlier this year, mandates large tech companies identified as "gatekeepers" to increase platform openness. Under DMA, Google is required to share data useful for training search models, promoting a fairer competitive landscape in the search market. Currently, Google holds roughly a 90% market share worldwide, overshadowing competitors like Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, and Yandex.
Ecosia and Qwant's collaboration represents an attempt to establish an independent search index, free from reliance on existing technologies from companies like Microsoft. By creating a new infrastructure from scratch, their initiative is privacy-centered, utilizing Qwant's redesigned technology from 2023. The new venture, led by Qwant’s CEO Olivier Abecassis, emphasizes European technological sovereignty rather than targeting American companies specifically. This reinforces the need for Europe to enhance its tech independence in light of potential geopolitical tensions, such as those experienced in energy supply disruptions post the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Ecosia and Qwant's initiative signifies a critical step towards reducing European reliance on non-European technologies, ensuring the continent's control over essential tech infrastructure.
