The Vivaldi browser adds Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees, to its latest version. Today’s release of Vivaldi 1.9 also includes security fixes, ability to shuffle extensions, sorting of notes and other enhancements.
As a result of partnership with Ecosia, Vivaldi users can turn their web searches into trees planted in the world’s most environmentally threatened areas. Ecosia donates at least 80% of its profits from search ad revenue to support tree planting programs around the world.
Ecosia has already planted close to 7.5 million trees since its launch in 2009 and is hoping to reach 1 billion by the year of 2020 – now with the help of Vivaldi users.
“We are proud to join forces with Ecosia and look forward to our users making a real difference to the environment by simply searching the web,” says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO at Vivaldi Technologies. “At Vivaldi, we strongly believe in putting people in charge of their browsing experience, and by including Ecosia, we give our eco-conscious users easy access to a greener search engine option.”
Users installing Vivaldi for the first time will find Ecosia in the search field to the right of the address bar. Clicking on the magnifying glass icon will reveal a menu of search engine options, including Ecosia. It is also possible to search through Ecosia in the address field after selecting this option in the Search settings. Users that are updating Vivaldi and have previously selected a different default search engine, will need to restore the search defaults in the settings prior to Ecosia becoming available.
Ecosia uses Bing’s technology, enhanced with its own algorithms. Searching with Ecosia, users will see a small tree counter appear in the top right corner of the screen. It will show a personal record of how many trees the user has helped plant using the environmentally-conscious search engine.
“We are delighted to be collaborating with Vivaldi and their users,” says Ecosia CEO Christian Kroll. “This will be a huge step towards our goal of financing the planting of 1 billion trees by 2020, proving that technology really can empower millions to have a tangible impact on the planet.”
Vivaldi 1.9 adds a number of features and fixes to further improve the browsing experience for its users:
- Change the placement of extension buttons on the address bar.
- Sorting of notes.
- Improvements to URL autocomplete.
- Ability to change directory for storing screen captures.
- Privacy and security improvements.
Vivaldi Technologies is an employee-owned company that creates products and services for discerning web users. In everything it does, Vivaldi believes in putting its users first. Vivaldi is headquartered in Oslo, with offices in Reykjavik, Boston and Palo Alto. Learn more about our mission at vivaldi.com.
Ecosia is a social business run by a small group of dedicated people. We work together to create tools that empower everyone to easily do good by planting trees. We believe our trees have the power to make this world a better place for everyone in it. Learn more at ecosia.org.
