The project

The open web index project wants to support startups and companies entering the search engine market. The aim is to create a transparent, public and open web index as an alternative to the proprietary web indexes of the existing search engine providers.

At the moment the costs to take part in the search engine market are way too high for startups and middle sized companies. By providing the basic infrastructure the high barrier for market entry will be reduced. As a result the existing oligopoly in the market can be broken.

Diversity in information acquisition is very important for our knowledge driven society. The open web index project opens up new opportunities for innovation in this field.

Financing / Cost sharing

The OWI organization will provide the infrastructure for companies who want to enter the search engine market. In return those companies contribute to the costs of operation.

This can be done in the following ways (possible examples):

• fee for a number of API-requests
• contribution in the advertising revenue / advertising revenue share model
• ...