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Wow, this is one of the better attempts to monetize an environmentalists' identity. This could literally be a wrapper around bing/google, very little investmen

Wow, this is one of the better attempts to monetize an environmentalists' identity. This could literally be a wrapper around bing/google, very little investment. Build out the tree-planting department as you scale income, without having to solve the hard technical problems at all. Kudos to them! This should be an inspirational example whenever people talk about starting a tech company on minimal code. (Their commitment to transparency is also pretty neat -- way to understand your customers' values, and identify a niche defined by said values. A fantastic differentiator in a market that's generally commoditized these days!)

foxhop 8y ago
It wraps bing. This is the 2nd time I've come across Ecosia, today I added the add-on to Firefox. Here's to hoping they actually plant the trees!
- mdnormy 8y ago
  I've seen Pornhub doing similar initiatives. Haven't read any updates whether they did plant all trees that they promised to. No one keeping tab.
- derdot 8y ago
  Not sure my word is going to mean much, but yes, we do indeed plant these trees :) We also publish regular tree updates to make the impact more visible (latest one is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeBhY5m9npE& https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeBhY5m9npE&) and just now some of my colleagues are in Indonesia: https://www.facebook.com/ecosia/videos/1056643057857650/ https://www.facebook.com/ecosia/videos/1056643057857650/ We also use a ODK-backed system for monitoring, where our partners on the ground fill in surveys about the trees they planted.
- foxhop 8y ago
  Seems they are a certified B-corp (just looked it up, seems legit). Here is another reference: https://info.ecosia.org/about https://info.ecosia.org/about they have a pretty sizable team. Pretty cool!
ealhad 8y ago
This is litterally a wrapper around bing. The problem is that the ads are also from Bing — Ecosia doesn't track its users, Bing does.

foxhop 8y ago

It wraps bing. This is the 2nd time I've come across Ecosia, today I added the add-on to Firefox. Here's to hoping they actually plant the trees!

mdnormy 8y ago
I've seen Pornhub doing similar initiatives. Haven't read any updates whether they did plant all trees that they promised to. No one keeping tab.
derdot 8y ago
Not sure my word is going to mean much, but yes, we do indeed plant these trees :) We also publish regular tree updates to make the impact more visible (latest one is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeBhY5m9npE& https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeBhY5m9npE&) and just now some of my colleagues are in Indonesia: https://www.facebook.com/ecosia/videos/1056643057857650/ https://www.facebook.com/ecosia/videos/1056643057857650/ We also use a ODK-backed system for monitoring, where our partners on the ground fill in surveys about the trees they planted.
foxhop 8y ago
Seems they are a certified B-corp (just looked it up, seems legit). Here is another reference: https://info.ecosia.org/about https://info.ecosia.org/about they have a pretty sizable team. Pretty cool!

ealhad 8y ago

This is litterally a wrapper around bing. The problem is that the ads are also from Bing — Ecosia doesn't track its users, Bing does.