The topic DuckDuckGo wins over a surge of users as Google pushes further into AI Search is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
DuckDuckGo, an alternative, small-scale search engine, is reporting “a sustained surge” in US-based installations in the week following Google’s very AI-focused I/O developer conference.
Among a flurry of announcements like its plan to take on OpenClaw with Google Spark, Gemini Omni, its turn anything into an AI video platform, and more information about its upcoming Android XR platform, the tech giant also revealed new agentic Google Search features and a dynamic search box, effectively killing off traditional Google Search.
As with many recent AI-related announcements, the reaction was mixed, and it seems a small subset of Google users are tired of the tech giant’s focus on AI (via Engadget). according to the data DuckDuckGo, US installs of the search engine’s app are up 18.1% over six consecutive days, peaking at 30.5% on May 25th. The majority of new users are on iOS, with iPhone installations showing an average week-over-week growth of 33%, peaking at 69.9% on May 25th.
Visits to http://noai.duckduckgo.com/, DuckDuckGo’s AI-free search page, also grew 22.7% week-over-week, peaking at 27.7 percent on May 24th. DuckDuckGo says that the growth it has experienced in the US is several times larger than its international expansion, and that it believes the surge is in “response to Google’s US-centric announcement.”
“Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out,” said DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg, in a statement. “As result, their results are getting worse, not better. We want to be the place that puts users in charge and allows them to decide how much or how little AI they want. That’s why we’re seeing a spike in people coming to DuckDuckGo this week, it’s as simple as that.”
Look, DuckDuckGo isn’t actually going to take on Google in a meaningful way — it’s just not possible. Still, it’s nice to see at least some backlash against Google’s never-ending quest to add AI to what feels like absolutely everything, including Search. DuckDuckGo also includes AI features in its search engine, including functionality that’s strikingly similar to Google’s often-incorrect AI Overviews. That said, these features can be turned off entirely using the search engine’s settings.