European search engines Qwant and Ecosia announced on Wednesday that they have begun serving search queries through a jointly developed index called Staan. This new index aims to provide a more affordable and privacy-focused alternative to Google and Bing.
Last year, Qwant, a French privacy-centric search engine, formed a joint venture with German nonprofit Ecosia to create a European search index under the name European Search Perspective (EUSP). The initiative now targets handling approximately 50% of French search queries and 33% of German queries by the end of the year.
Qwant is already utilizing the new index to power features like AI-generated search summaries, while Ecosia plans to introduce similar AI capabilities to its platform soon. EUSP is also in discussions with companies to encourage adoption of its index for in-app search functionality, particularly for chatbots. The group positions Staan as a cost-effective alternative to Google and Bing for deep research and AI-powered summaries.
Christian Kroll, CEO of Ecosia, explained that many AI chatbots rely on web search for knowledge grounding, and Staan can deliver comparable features at a fraction of the cost. He emphasized that Google and Bing’s solutions are expensive, whereas EUSP’s index can provide powerful search capabilities at just a tenth of the price.
Like Proton, EUSP is working to establish a European tech stack independent of U.S. or Chinese technology. The companies highlighted the urgency of this effort, noting that the outcome of the 2024 U.S. election has underscored Europe’s reliance on American Big Tech for critical digital infrastructure. This dependence leaves sectors such as journalism and climate tech vulnerable to external political or commercial influences.
Kroll added that by leveraging this index alongside Europe’s strong privacy laws, EUSP can offer a more secure and privacy-friendly search solution compared to its U.S. counterparts.
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