Google has pulled out of its search agreement with Australian start-up Ecocho, it has been revealed.The firm, which launched its services earlier this month, had an agreement with both Google and fellow search engine provider Yahoo! under which it received a percentage of advertising revenue for searches performed through it.
Headquartered in Sydney, Ecocho is a search engine scheme which is based on environmentally-friendly principles.
The company had said it would plant up to two new trees for every 1,000 searches conducted on Google and Yahoo!.
In a new development, however, Google has withdrawn its support for the venture.
Commenting on the move, the start-up stated: "Unfortunately, Google has decided to stop Ecocho from using its search technology.
"We've had phenomenal results over the first week and really hope that this can continue. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and hope to resolve this problem soon."
Meanwhile, Google Australia spokesman Rob Shilkin revealed that Ecocho had been barred because it broke Google's AdSense policies.
Google has a rule under which publishers running Google advertising must not compensate internet users for viewing ads or performing searches, or promise compensation to a third party for such behaviour.
According to the spokeman, by promising to plant trees, Ecocho was "in clear violation" of this.
He added: "We have now stopped serving ads and search results to the owner's sites."
