ÉVREUX, France — Babbar, a French company, announced Tuesday the public launch of an Application Programming Interface (API) for its ibou search engine, providing developers and artificial intelligence tools with access to its web index.
The new ibou Platform API aims to offer an affordable and sovereign alternative for integrating search capabilities, with all operations, including crawling, indexing, ranking, and hosting, conducted entirely within France.
The API features four distinct endpoints, allowing developers to retrieve search results with varying levels of detail, ranging from basic URLs to comprehensive page content, according to a company statement.
Pricing for the service is structured at one euro, excluding VAT, for 1,000 units, with each API call consuming between one and five units depending on the complexity of the requested data.
Babbar is offering 100 free units upon registration, and no ongoing subscription is required for access to the platform.
Sylvain Peyronnet, a representative for Babbar, indicated that the API was developed to support diverse applications, including the grounding of large language models (LLMs), equipping AI agents, facilitating web monitoring, and enabling the creation of custom search products.
The emphasis on data sovereignty ensures that all user data and search operations remain within French jurisdiction, a key selling point for the Évreux-based firm.
Babbar, which also operates a well-known SEO tool, has positioned ibou as a competitive option against larger, international search providers.
The company previously collaborated with Mailchimp on various projects and has been recognized in the French digital community, including by publications like Abondance.
This initiative marks a significant step for Babbar in expanding the accessibility and utility of its search technology to a broader developer and AI community.
Source: Abondance
