![]() Rather than merely focusing on the symbolic, the context is also important to keep in mind (Thompson, 1990). This article will adopt this focus on ideologies as stratified there is not one, but there can be many ideologies that arise and are produced by discourse. According to Blommaert (2005) who follows Barthes, ideology is neither, but rather it can be considered layered. In general, he sees two types of conceptualizations of ideology: firstly, ideology as a grand narrative, a worldview that characterises a whole system, and secondly, ideology as a characterisation of one group. He critically points out that ideologies can be extracted from discourse. Blommaert (2005) defines ideology as what should be at the heart of any discourse analysis. Ideologies are then per definition seen as partisan, not factual. A common pitfall when discussing ideologies is that they are seen as something inherently negative or integrated into the beliefs of an individual, institution or a company. According to Blommaert (2019), an ideology is “any set of socially structured ideas guiding behavior and thought in particular domains of life” (n.p.). However, there is no clear-cut definition and there are several interpretations of this concept. This article will follow Blommaert’s ( 2005 2019) definition of ideologies. To begin with, ideologies are fruitful to examine as they present ideas, relations, behaviour and thinking within a specific setting. By doing an analysis on these two types of data, this article will shed light on the ideologies of Ecosia and see how the green search engine differs from other competitors like Google and Yahoo. ![]() The aim of this article is to dive deeper into the ideologies that emerge from Ecosia’s Instagram posts and two interviews that were held with the CEO and founder of the green search engine, Christian Kroll. Throughout the years, more than 137 million trees have been planted (and still counting), there are over 9 thousand planting sites and there is almost 13 million euros invested in the company (Ecosia, n.d.). One of the most important aspects is that Ecosia does not seek to make profit, nor are the investors able to withdraw money at any time (Bauder, 2020). After having set up several other failing start-ups, Ecosia can be instead considered a success. The CEO and founder of Ecosia, Christian Kroll recognised the environmental issues while he was travelling and decided to make a difference. In 2014 the company got the Certified B Corporation (Ecosia, n.d.), which means that the company fulfils the highest standards of social and environmental transparency, performance, and accountability. Ecosia's origins can be found in Germany and it started more than a decade ago. Ecosia positions itself as a green web-based company that places the earth and its population over benefits and data (Ecosia, n.d.). Since 2009, over 15 million users have chosen to plant trees rather than stimulating profit-driven companies, such as Google. The green search engine Ecosia will do it for you. Imagine that you are able to plant a tree with every 45 searches that you make. Introducing Ecosia: 'The Green Search Engine' This company is committed to combating the climate crisis. But, is it too late? Is it really that bad? According to Ecosia, a green search engine, it is not. “Major climate changes inevitable and irreversible” or “the climate disaster is here – this is what the future looks like”, are frightening headlines that are published on a regular base these days.
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