Fighting the Search Monopoly with an Open Source Index: An Interview with Michael Granitzer from OpenWebSearch | Reset Digital for Good

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In a recent interview with Reset Digital for Good, Prof. Dr. Michael Granitzer, Chair of Data Science at the University of Passau and project manager of our recently completed OpenWebSearch.EU project, provided insights into the significance of the Open Web Index, which was developed in the project.

„Our mission is to break up the silo of a single search engine. (…) We’re doing this by crawling the web, collecting web pages, and preparing them to be consumed by search engines. Preparing them involves cleaning advertisements and navigation links, then extracting the main content. This index can be used by individuals or organisations to build their own search engines.“ states Michael.

While scaling up to compete with monopolies such as Google would require enormous resources, Michael believes that a community-oriented project could complement traditional and AI search as a public good. He envisions a future in which small AI models enable users to search for and combine information from various sources, independently of large technology companies.

In the future, societies will be shaped by humans and models working closely together

„In an ideal scenario, the AI model is running on my machine and controlling my data. It’s a tool that helps me, conducts searches on my behalf and understands what I want to do. I’m talking about small language models rather than large language models. A model that helps me search, aggregate and synthesise information based on search endpoints that I choose.“, he states

You can read the full interview here: https://en.reset.org/fighting-the-search-monopoly-with-an-open-source-index-an-interview-with-michael-granitzer-from-openwebsearch/

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“Wo bleibt das europäische Google oder Facebook?” | arte.tv

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Our OpenWebSearch.EU project was recently featured in a German arte.tv report about European alternatives to overseas BigTech web services.

The video highlights our commitment to strengthening European digital sovereignty in the world wide web.
The report provides insights from Prof. Dr. Ir. Djoerd Hiemstra, Professor of Federated Search and Head of the Information Retrieval research group at Radboud University, one of the OpenWebSearch.EU consortium partners. Djoerd introduced the Open Web Index in its current state and the role it could play in creating powerful European search solutions.
Skip to minute 4:16 to hear Djoerd‘s insights:

Alternatively, watch the video directly on Arte.tv: https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/121620-127-A/wo-bleibt-das-europaeische-google-oder-facebook/

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Merkur: ‘Starnberg Initiative launches charter: Internet search as critical infrastructure’

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“Erkämpft und verhasst – Die Geschichte des Datenschutzes” | BR Radiowissen

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“Census, no way!” is the title of the BR podcast “Erkämpft und verhasst – Die Geschichte des Datenschutzes” (Hard-won and hated – The history of data protection), which deals with the history of data protection in its episode dated August 22, 2025.

Why a census in Germany in 1987 sparked waves of protest, what this had to do with data protection, and what data protection looks like in the digital age – author Stefan Foag discusses these topics and much more for the German podcast BR Radiowissen.

But let’s go back to the beginning: a protest by concerned citizens in response to the historic census in 1987 got the whole thing started in Germany. Issues such as data protection and the right to informational self-determination were critically examined and publicly questioned in the context of German history.

Concerns about data protection have now become a very prominent issue worldwide, with the European Union playing a particularly important role. The development of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and case law on the responsibility of large tech companies have set decisive milestones in this area. Today, however, the shift in surveillance from state institutions to digital companies is causing particular concern and resistance.

Leopold Beer, lawyer and employee of the Open Search Foundation, was interviewed on this topic. He explains how Europe, as a central market for digital solutions, can become a global pioneer in the regulation of data protection law through the so-called “Brussels effect.” An important step in this direction is the OpenWebSearch.Eu project with its specially developed Open Web Index. It aims to meet legal and ethical requirements in the best possible way and thus develop the basis for a European, data protection-friendly search engine.

You can find the entire episode here: https://www.ardsounds.de/episode/urn:ard:episode:9df03c9454d8baa6/

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Open web search for Europe: The Open Web Index as an alternative to Google | Podcast Deutschlandfunk Kultur

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What does a European, independent search infrastructure look like – beyond the ubiquitous Google search? This is precisely the subject of the Deutschlandfunk Kultur report, in which our project plays a prominent role.

In a short guest comment, Dr. Stefan Voigt from the board of the Open Search Foundation characterizes the concept of the Open Web Search Initiative as follows
“To inspire Europe to build its own web search infrastructure – based on a publicly accessible web index on which a wide variety of search engines and front-ends can be created.”

Journalist Stefan Mey discusses the Open Web Index as a foundational technology for a European sovereign web infrastructure in the podcast.
Google’s quasi-monopoly and the failure of alternative providers to date highlight the need for new solutions.

The independent index should serve as a basis for AI training and as a partner index for search engines.
It’ll form a landscape of different providers from universal search engines to specialized search engines on “nerd topics”.

The podcast also discusses the current status of the project, the question of funding and the importance of an open search index as part of Europe’s critical digital infrastructure.

Listen to the whole podcast at Deutschlandfunk:
https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/zutritt-verboten-eu-diskutiert-altersbeschraenkungen-fuer-social-media-100.html

By the way: Jan Penfrat from EDRi (European

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“Google is not democratic. It lives off the data of its users” | Interview for HomoDigital

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“Imagine, our streets would have no names and our houses no readable house numbers. Just a cryptic code readable only by machines.”

Dr. Stefan Voigt, Chairman of the OSF Board, explains the mission of the Open Search Foundation and the goal of the Open Web Index project in an interview for the Polish web blog HomoDigital.

He goes into more detail about the challenges and the great importance of the project in current political, social and technological context.

“So one of the main challenges is to inspire people and computing providers to cooperate on this large but socially extremely relevant task and to jointly make public information publicly accessible and usable again.”

Dr. Stefan Voigt is optimistic about a possible paradigm shift away from the current market concentration of large tech companies on the Internet.

The full interview is available on HomoDigital (in Polish) here.

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We were invited to “Besser Wissen” podcast

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In the episode with the enticing title “Will the European search engine come – how an independent search index is being created”, podcast host Martin Wolff spoke with our OSF board member Dr. Stefan Voigt as well as Prof. Dr. Michael Granitzer about the current search engine landscape.

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Merkur: “They want to make the internet fairer: Award for web revolutionaries from Starnberg”

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“The Open Search Foundation from Starnberg coordinates a European initiative that aims to make the internet fairer and more transparent. It has now won a “Responsible Innovations” award” – such the headline of Starnberger Merkur

The anual Corporate Digital Responsibility Award by the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW) and Bayern Innovativ GmbH honors responsible digital projects. Tobias Gmach from Starnberger Merkur spoke to OSF board member Stefan Voigt about the award and current developments in the association’s Open Web Search initiative.

The article is available here (in German only): https://www.merkur.de/lokales/starnberg/starnberg-ort29487/sie-wollen-das-internet-gerechter-machen-preis-fuer-starnberger-netz-revolutionaere-93564190.html

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ZDF online: “EU research power against Google’s dominance”

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“EU research power against Google’s dominance” German news broadcaster ZDF reports on OpenWebSearch.eu and the vision of open web search

“A European association is challenging Google: a public web index should finally ensure diversity on the search market. A Bavarian association plays a key role in this endeavour.” – In a current report, ZDF introduces the Open Search Foundation and the EU-funded OpenWebSearch.eu project, which was set up to build an independent, European search infrastructure. “Search engines decide what content is visible and how user, data and payment flows move,” states Dr. Stefan Voigt, CEO of the Open Search Foundation. “It is unacceptable for just one company to dominate this key infrastructure of the digital world.”

The article informs about the work of the Open Search Foundation and the beforementioned Horizon Europe project, which aims to build a free, community-driven search index that enables new, diverse search engine models – e.g. for science, journalism or regional content. The index could also serve as a data pool for AI models. The project is supported by 14 European partners from research and society, including the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Munich and CERN in Geneva. The EU funds the project with 8.5 million euros.

 

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Süddeutsche Zeitung: “How chat GPT influences voters”

“We are paying with our data, our privacy, economic independence and democratic sovereignty” – Leopold Beer from the Süddeutsche Zeitung quotes OSF board member Stefan Voigt.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung reports on the Open Search Foundation and its plan to democratize Web Search. In the context of the upcoming European elections 2024, the article draws attention to the weaknesses of current web search and shows how commercially operated digital platforms could influence voting decisions.

The article summarizes many aspects and also portrays the EU project OpenWebSearch.eu, which is funded by the European Commission under the umbrella of Horizon Europe. OpenWebSearch.eu is a collaborative research project consisting of 14 consortium partners. The aim is to create a prototype of a European web index that guarantees Europe’s digital sovereignty and serves the common good. The Open Search Foundation is one of the consortium partners and a key driver of the project.

The report appeared in the Süddeutsche Zeitung and online at sz.de:
www.sueddeutsche.de/europawahl-stefan-voigt-christine-plote-open-search-foundation

Event-tip:

The “Free Web Search Day” #FWSD will take place again on September 29, 2024. The Open Search Foundation launched the annual Action Day. Every year, various events and campaigns around #FWSD draw attention to the challenges and opportunities of internet search and provide knowledge and tips. Companies and private individuals can once again show their support on 29 September and actively or passively participate in the extensive range of activities: freewebsearch.org

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