In August 2010, DuckDuckGo introduced anonymous searching, including an exit enclave, for its search engine traffic using Tor network and enabling access through a "Tor hidden service" (onion service). It also uses data from crowdsourced sites such as Wikipedia, to populate knowledge panel boxes to the right of the search results. DuckDuckGo offers limited third-party tracking protection, third-party cookie protection, CNAME cloaking protection, limited device fingerprint protection from third parties, link tracking removal, Google AMP replacement, and do-not-track requests. In September 2022, Debian package maintainers switched the default search engine in Chromium to DuckDuckGo for privacy reasons.
How to Use DuckDuckGo on Mobile
Loading articles, search results, and forms works smoothly for most people. MotionMark and Speedometer lag behind Chrome and Firefox, which points to weaker handling of animations and complex web apps. You might need to add location tags or refine queries to get local services and tailored suggestions.
Features
In March 2019, Google added DuckDuckGo to the default search engine list in Chrome 73. On May 30, 2016, The Tor Project, Inc made DuckDuckGo the default search engine for Tor Browser 6.0. On March 10, the Pale Moon web browser, starting with version 24.4.0, included DuckDuckGo as its default search engine, as well as listed it on the browser's homepage. GNOME released Web 3.10 on September 26, 2013, and starting with this version, the default search engine is DuckDuckGo. By May 2012, the search engine was attracting 1.5 million searches a day.
In January 2019, DuckDuckGo set a record of 1 billion monthly searches; and in November of the same year, it hit 50 million searches per day. Danny Sullivan wrote on Search Engine Land that despite the search engine's growth "it's not grown anywhere near the amount to reflect any substantial or even mildly notable switching by the searching public" for reasons due to privacy, and he concluded "No One Cares About "Private" Search". In June 2013, DuckDuckGo indicated that it had seen a significant traffic increase; according to the company's Twitter account, on Monday, June 17, 2013, it had three million daily direct searches. In December 2024, DuckDuckGo criticized Google's proposed remedies in an antitrust case related to search engine monopolies. In August 2022, DuckDuckGo began blocking Microsoft's trackers, saying that the policy preventing them from doing so no longer applied.
Opera: AI browser with VPN
A hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) located at the top-right corner of the screen allows you to download DuckDuckGo for Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and as a browser extension. Learn more about our editorial team and our research a huevo restaurante process. Leavitt’s career spans various sectors, including international journalism and publishing, and she is recognized for her skill in enhancing editorial systems and digital content quality.
- Some popular extensions may not run or may behave differently because the browser is WebKit-based and enforces stricter privacy rules.
- We will weigh how well the tool blocks trackers, stops personalized ads, and keeps searches unprofiled.
- DuckDuckGo’s own traffic statistics show that in August 2012 there were 1,393,644 visits per day, up from an average of 39,406 visits per day in April 2010 (the earliest data available).
- This intro sets expectations for an honest, balanced review of search quality, performance, privacy, and key features.
DuckDuckGo strips tracking pixels before forwarding, so newsletters and receipts reveal less about habits. Use a reputable vpn or Tor for stronger network-level protection. Your ISP can detect connections to a search provider and resolve domains you visit after leaving a result page. By late 2022 the company renegotiated terms and now treats those scripts like other trackers. No tool can fully cut every data path; this section lists key caveats so you know what remains exposed during everyday use. Use fireproofing to preserve logins for selected sites while wiping everything else.
DuckDuckGo's own traffic statistics show that in August 2012 there were 1,393,644 visits per day, up from an average of 39,406 visits per day in April 2010 (the earliest data available). Headquartered in Paoli, Pennsylvania, DuckDuckGo is a privately held company with about 200 employees. Founded by Gabriel Weinberg in 2008, its later products include browser extensions and a custom DuckDuckGo web browser.
It serves you local search results based solely on your search queries and keeps your search history private. It doesn’t collect your browsing data or track what you search for online. Below the search bar, you’ll see links to the DuckDuckGo web browser for Windows and the DuckDuckGo Chrome extension. You can use the tools below the search bar to search different data sets, including images, videos, news and maps. DuckDuckGo works like most search engines — you enter a search query into the search bar and a list of search results pops up on the page. Not only does it not spy on you, but it also prevents other websites from snooping by blocking their hidden trackers.
We feature many protections not available on most browsers and extensions, even in private browsing mode, including protection from link tracking, Global Privacy Control, and more. Oh, and our browser extension is free — we make money from privacy-respecting search ads, not by exploiting your data. In November 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey revealed his preference for using the DuckDuckGo search engine rather than Google, stating, "I love @DuckDuckGo. My default search engine for a while now. The app is even better!".
No major public hacks have appeared as of 2025, yet we still recommend safe habits like using a VPN when IP masking matters. This intro sets expectations for an honest, balanced review of search quality, performance, privacy, and key features. Highlights include default tracker blocking, one-click history clearing via the Fire Button, Smarter Encryption, and Global Privacy Control. This short guide offers a friendly, practical look at DuckDuckGo’s new desktop app for Windows and macOS. The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports.
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What started as a search engine now ships as a full app that gives users a less noisy, more private web experience. Use duckduckgo for everyday fact-finding, sensitive topics, and searches where you prefer minimal tracking. The core app, mobile tools, and search services remain free for all users. That means websites—not your search app—set tracking rules for that visit. We separate the search engine from the app so readers see what each protects and where responsibility ends when clicking external sites. We will weigh how well the tool blocks trackers, stops personalized ads, and keeps searches unprofiled.
Users who need deep customization, extensive extensions, or hyper-personalized search should consider Chrome, Firefox, or Bing-powered setups instead. Privacy-first users who want strong defaults and simple controls will like it. There’s no built-in ad removal via an official extension that disables those contextual ads. Duck Player limits ads and tracking on YouTube, Email Protection offers @duck.com forwarding and tracker stripping, and ! The browser encrypts connections when sites use HTTPS, but ISPs can still see domains and metadata unless you use a VPN or encrypted DNS. It uses WebKit rather than Chromium, focuses on privacy by default, bundles tracker blocking and a Fire Button, and favors less personalized search results.
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