Qwant
Privacy-focused French search engine, jointly building an independent European search index with Ecosia.
Qwant is a French privacy-focused search engine that will gain rival access to Google's search-ranking data under an EU order issued on 16 July 2026.
Last refreshed: 26 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can two small European search engines really out-compete Google's index?
Timeline for Qwant
Co-founded the European Search Perspective foundation with Ecosia
European Tech Sovereignty: Brussels orders Google to open Android to AI rivalsInstalled as default search engine across European Parliament devices
European Tech Sovereignty: Parliament drops Google for Qwant searchBackground
Qwant is a French search engine built around user privacy: it does not track users, build profiles or resell search data. Launched in 2013 out of Nice by Eric Leandri, Jean-Manuel Rozan and Patrick Constant, it is headquartered in Paris and positions itself as a European alternative to Google and Bing.
Ownership has shifted several times: Axel Springer took a 20% stake in 2014, the European Investment Bank lent 25 million euros in 2016, and France's Caisse des Depots took a 20% holding in 2017. Since July 2023 it has been majority owned, at 75%, by Octave Klaba's Synfonium holding company, with the Caisse des Depots retaining 25%.
Qwant's most consequential structural move has been European Search Perspective, a 50:50 joint venture with German rival Ecosia launched in 2024 to build an independent European search index, reducing both firms' reliance on Google and Bing. It also secured a symbolic institutional win when the European Parliament made it the default search engine on all 720 MEP and staff devices from 4 June 2026, citing digital sovereignty.
Qwant gains access to Google data
On 16 July 2026 the European Commission ordered Google to share anonymised Search ranking data with competing search engines on FRAND terms from January 2027, as part of the same Digital Markets Act enforcement that also opened Android to rival AI providers. For Qwant, still partly dependent on Microsoft's Bing index for results, the ruling offers a route away from that dependency and toward a genuinely independent index.
It lands alongside Qwant's own build-out: the "Staan" index launched in August 2025 and opened its API publicly in June 2026, and the European Search Perspective joint venture with Ecosia has been feeding French users independent results through 2025 and 2026. The Commission order reinforces, rather than replaces, that self-built PATH.
Reference
What is the European Search Perspective?
What is Qwant?
Which EU institutions use Qwant as their search engine?
Why did the European Parliament switch to Qwant from Google?
How does the EU's ruling against Google help Qwant?
Who owns Qwant?
Is Qwant a good search engine alternative to Google?
