Alternative Search Engines that Create Social Value

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Did you know Google isn’t the only search engine?  Although they have a significant market share at 92%, there are other search engines, as the team at Value Match have recently discovered!

On our continuing quest to search for ways to create value and embed our own values in our day-to-day, we have discovered several search engines that give back and provide a positive impact on the environment based on your search usage. 

We were so impressed, we wanted to share six innovative search engines that can be utilised to do good, the next time you think Google, perhaps think about one of the below as an alternative.

  1. GiveWater

GiveWater is a non for-profit organisation that is self-descried as a ‘social impact search engine’.  Their aim is to positively impact the environment by tackling the issues of poor-quality water and ineffective sanitation causing disease in the developing world.

GiveWater make money through their charitable search engine though the clicks that you could make.  The money made is then passed through the charities partnered with GiveWater to create clean water and sanitation.

  1. Ecosia

German-based organisation Ecosia is a search engine that uses their profits to plant trees.  They have planted over 125 million trees).

They have various projects, one of which is Burkina Faso.  Their goal is to restore decertified land by planting trees.

Find out more about this project.

  1. EveryClick

EveryClick was launched in 2005 initially as a fundraising tool for charities and later adding a Bing-based search engine.  Since 2005 EveryClick now works with thousands of charities, fundraisers, and stores to raise valuable funds making a real difference.  Projects supported include; Woodland Trust, Freegle, Friends of the Earth Trust and 190 other environment based charities and foundations.

Their vision is “to set the industry standard for innovative charity fundraising in the UK.  This vision is backed by our board and shareholders, which includes distinguished individuals from the charity and business worlds, such as our chairman Geoff Squire, OBE.”

To date they have raised £14.3 million for charity.

  1. Ekoru

Ekoru was started by Australian software professional Ati Bakush.  He travelled across Australia and through the jungles of Malaysia.

Donating 60% of its monthly revenue to several partner charities, ranging from reforestation, climate change action, and help for endangered animal conservation.  Ekroru also use renewable energy sources for its data centres however, they are currently only available in the USA, Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, although new regions are added regularly.

To date they have saved 45,792.472 Kg CO2.

  1. Givero

Givero was started in 2018 located in Holbaek, Denmark.  Givero is unique compared to the other search engines on this list as you can choose which cause to give back too.  User don’t require a profile and can choose between a variety of charities who you’d want to help and new charities are always being added.

“We made it our business to make it easy to support good causes – at no cost to you.”

  1. Lilo

Lilo currently have has over 4.1 million searches and have raised £3.6 million for charity.  They have numerous projects on-going including Arutam Zéro Déforestation a deforestation and global warming project that also protects indigenous forests in the Amazon.  To date the project has raised over €100,000.

Perhaps most interesting of all, though, is its waterdrop system. Every search provides its users with a waterdrop, and every waterdrop can be assigned to a charity of your choice to help to fund them.

Now you have discovered an alternative to the traditional search engine and a search engine that gives back to the environment and communities.

Value Match embed social value into our daily lives and continue to explore ways to improve and expand on how we create social value.  We offer workshops and online training to help organisations improve their capability to successfully meet social value requirements and improve their application, discover more here.