ECOOGLER IS NOT GOOGLE

Yesterday I added a blog post about Ecoogler a search engine that plants a tree in the Amazon for every ten thousand clicks. I thought this to be a very good idea and was inspired to think that Google had set up such a wonderful alternative to its regular search engine.

I was led to believe it was a Google enterprise by my friend in Mexico who believed like many others, that Ecoogler.com was a child of Google. However curiosity got the better of me and I searched a little for information on Ecoogler and discovered that many people had the same impression – this was a google sponsored tree planting. I went to treehugger.com and found out that they had been alerted by their members and finally came to the conclusion that Ecoogler has nothing to do with Google.

Treehugger.com still believe that it is not a bad idea to use this method to plant trees in the Amazon and it appears that the organisation, Swiss based AquaVerde are planting trees and that ecoogle has been set up to help them by a Spanish company. And they've come to the conclusion that it is above the board, but very confusing.

My feelings are that ecoogler comes close to infringing on Googles patent and trademarks. And even though the plan to reforest areas of the Amazon is a good one; confusing people is not the best way to get it achieved.

Many people on discovering that Ecoogler is not google related are expressing distrust and I can understand why.

Here is what treehugger.com had to say...
It looks like the jury on an eco-oriented search engine Ecoogler is finally in. Despite its disturbingly familiar name, the website is not of Google's loins. What finally gave it away was the manner in which the website behaved when receiving visitors. According to Treehugger, logging on to Ecoogler meant viewing "the Spanish site first before you can click on the English version." What's more, the index's domain name has been registered since November 2007, but the site saw no real traffic until this February with the lion share of visits originating from Spain, Columbia, Mexico, Costa Rica and Argentina.

Still, notwithstanding its estranged relationship with Google, Ecoogler seems to do its part to help the planet. Through a collaboration with a Swiss non-profit association Aquaverde, Ecoogler wages a war against deforestation by planting one tree for every 10,000 searches.