By: Heidi Kwok, Staff Writer

Discussing all the reasons to boycott Google would take an entire article, but the tech giant’s involvement in violent state surveillance projects is reason enough. Project Nimbus is their artificial intelligence project that provides the Israeli government with surveillance data on Palestinians as it carries out a genocide in Gaza. More recently, Google Cloud invested billions in partnering with war contractor Lockheed Martin to provide AI surveillance along the Mexico-US border wall. With bothersome “AI Overviews” now embedded in search results, the depletion of fossil fuels is increasing exponentially, and so is environmental racism — a systemic issue where racialized communities pay the price for the climate crisis. In Uruguay, Google’s latest massive datacentres under construction will release thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide and toxic waste into communities. Locals continue to protest the implicated water usage amid a drought in the region.

Google is so ubiquitous one would imagine it’s the only option available. As a university student, I’d be lying if I said certain databases haven’t been lifesavers when it comes to coursework — like Google Scholar or Google Maps. Familiarity and having everything you need in one place are part of the allure, but what could we be missing out on by giving in to ease and not exploring other options? While it may seem impossible to completely remove a tech monopoly from your life, search engines and web browsers are an easy starting point and make a difference. I decided to try two of the top web browser alternatives and compare them so you can choose which one is right for you.

What is Ecosia?

The non-profit uses its advertising revenue to fund global reforestation projects and other climate action initiatives. Its tree restoration program operates over 60 active projects in over 35 countries. The platform is also powered entirely by solar energy. Ecosia publicly discloses its financial activity and income allocation on a landing page with easy-to-digest charts and infographics. 

Initial impressions: installment and homepage 

Installing Ecosia was a breeze. You can try out Ecosia as an extension on your current web browser and change your default search engine in your browser settings. You can also easily download the desktop web browser. On the homepage and below the search bar, the collective climate impact of Ecosia users is displayed in a live tracker: 239,253,790 trees planted and €96,034,141 dedicated to climate action at the time of writing.

Seed and impact counter

After installing, a small panel in the top right corner caught my eye. Expanding it showed my guest user profile and accompanying label: “Level 1: Ecocurious.” Beneath it was a prompt to sign up for an account. I obliged and was quickly promoted to “Level 2: Green Explorer.” A tracker called an impact counter on your profile documents the total seeds you’ve collected (you gain a seed per day using Ecosia), and your progressions to the next levels. These seeds translate tangibly to the environment. Once you’ve collected the equivalent amount, six seedlings are planted in real life for every tree expected to survive. This unique levels-based achievement system sets Ecosia apart; collecting seeds felt like video game side quests.

A browser service that simultaneously operates as a points-based game system with real-life climate impact? Count me in.

Final thoughts

Ecosia’s user interface design felt clean and sleek. I loved how they consistently referenced their reforestation mission through tree and plant iconography. Browsing also felt akin to the days before Google slowly gained sentience with their intrusive AI. While Ecosia does have an AI conversational feature called Ecosia Chat, you can decide whether or not to use it. If you do, the chat service may only be accessed under a separate search bar. I should note that because Ecosia’s AI is powered by OpenAI, your privacy is not guaranteed since all conversations are shared and stored on the external provider’s database for up to 30 days. However, using AI is completely optional and compartmentalized.

While Ecosia is a Google alternative, Ecosia’s Map and GPS services are still powered by Google Maps. However, the biggest downside of Ecosia for me is its tenuous privacy policy. Currently, Ecosia partners with Google and Microsoft Bing to deliver ads and share users’ searches. They also collect and analyze data, including users’ IP addresses, search terms, and session behavioural data.

DuckDuckGo

Evocative of the children’s game, the DuckDuckGo (DDG) search engine operates on the promise of “protection, privacy, and peace of mind.” The browser’s main selling point is personal data protection and evasion from third-party trackers. Compared to mainstream browsers, DDG offers what they call “significant protection” across aspects like web tracking, cookie protection, private search, ad and pop-up blocking, and privacy control. 

Initial impressions: installment and homepage

Like Ecosia, installing DDG was a piece of cake. Despite not having an option to add it as an extension, downloading the desktop version was just as easy.

It was less than a minute before I was met warmly by a bow-tie wearing anthropomorphic duck who, through interactive speech bubbles, guided through the rest of the initial privacy settings.

A fair bit of warning: the duck does get a little chatty to begin with and is prone to giving unsolicited comments about your browsing activity. The homepage, while not as embellished as Ecosia’s vibrant greenery, looks futuristic, even displaying a protection report that records all blocked tracking activity.

Privacy highlights: Fire Button and DuckPlayer 

Once I had time to orient myself with DDG’s interface, I could confidently say, I’m super impressed by how accessible their privacy features are and how meticulously they consider user experience. With a single click, the Fire Button feature swiftly clears your browsing history in an animated burst of flames. The highlight of the search engine for me had to be DuckPlayer, a built-in video player that allows users to watch YouTube without targeted ads. 

Final thoughts

DDG’s AI functionality captures the best of both Google and Ecosia. DDG has what’s called an AI Search Assist that can be intentionally enabled (and disabled) with a simple click below the search bar. Unlike Google, DDG’s AI is optional, giving you the freedom to opt-out. DDG likewise offers Duck.ai, which, similar to Ecosia Chat, allows you to converse back-and-forth between a generative language model. The engine claims your data is withheld from third-party model providers, except your date and timezone.

While DDG offers significant separation from Google in terms of data sharing and features, they don’t offer equally capable alternatives to everything just yet; their Maps service is powered by Apple Maps, and this is just not as versatile as GoogleMaps. Perhaps a bigger issue was how their search results link to paid products. The first two results that popped up when looking up medical-related questions, for example, were from online storefronts selling self-prescribed supplements. This may be because DDG generates revenue from non-targeted private ads. Because the search engine does not personalize ads based on your browsing history, ads are instead entirely based on the localized search results you conduct. Unlike Ecosia, DDG is not transparent about how their profits are spent. They also don’t publicly disclose how their data centres are powered.

So which search engine was superior? It ultimately comes down to your browsing habits. If you’re an avid consumer of video platforms a then DuckDuckGo annihilates all competition. Ecosia, on the other hand, is great for those who are more conscious about their lifestyle impacts on the environment. Both Google alternative search engines do great in making AI optional. For students in particular, in the absence of AI summaries, you’re able to apply critical thinking skills and go “old-school” when it comes to scanning the results page for relevant and credible sources. Without services like GoogleScholar, you’re relegated to the mercy of more trustworthy databases like Jstor and Web of Science. 

To join the movement and learn more, r/degoogle is a Reddit community that shares advice on various ways to eliminate and find alternatives to Google, including Google Maps and Gmail. liberationtoolbox.io also provides an ongoing “series on de-centering Big Tech by moving away from Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and more.”