Following Google's recent extensive overhaul of its Search platform, a notable shift in user sentiment has emerged. One individual was overheard expressing her intention to switch to DuckDuckGo, citing the ability to "opt out of using AI" as her primary motivation.
“Google just isn’t Google anymore,” she remarked, a sentiment that appears to resonate with a growing number of users.
The changes, unveiled at Google’s annual developer conference, I/O, indicate a fundamental transformation: the traditional list of blue links is set to be superseded by an AI agent designed to answer queries, execute tasks, and manage background monitoring processes.
This strategic pivot has been met with a sharp backlash.
Critics have voiced concerns that the new approach could undermine the open web, while others are troubled by the potential for AI overviews to generate inaccurate responses and diminish user control for those who prefer not to engage with AI. Furthermore, some argue that the new system overcomplicates previously straightforward tasks, exemplified by the simple act of searching for a word like “disregard.”
In response to these developments, a significant number of users have begun migrating to DuckDuckGo, a search engine known for its privacy-centric approach. Historically, DuckDuckGo has struggled to challenge Google’s market dominance, holding only about 2% of the U.S. search market.
During Google’s 2023 search antitrust trial, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg testified that Google’s exclusive default search contracts hampered his company’s ability to secure default status on other browsers.
“Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out,” Weinberg stated in a recent announcement, referring to the Search overhaul. He continued, “As a 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.”
It now appears that DuckDuckGo is beginning to reap the benefits of this consumer exodus from AI-driven search.
DuckDuckGo reported a substantial increase in U.S. app installs, averaging 18.1% week-over-week between May 20 and May 25, compared to the May 13-May 18 period. This growth was sustained for six consecutive days, peaking at 30.5% on May 25. On iOS, the installation rate was even more pronounced, with an average week-over-week growth of 33%, reaching a peak of 69.9%.
The search engine also observed a 22.7% average week-over-week increase in visits to its AI-free search page, noai.duckduckgo.com, with a peak of 27.7% on May 24. This dedicated page disables all AI features, including AI-assisted answers and AI-generated images, by default.
The company noted that this trend is particularly strong in the U.S., and DuckDuckGo continued to attract new users over the Memorial Day weekend, a period typically associated with a dip in traffic.
Interestingly, DuckDuckGo also offers its own AI product called Duck.ai. This free service requires no account and provides access to various models, including Anthropic’s Claude 4.5 Haiku, Meta’s Llama 4 Scout, Mistral’s Small 3 24B, and OpenAI’s GPT-5 mini. A key differentiator is its commitment to privacy: DuckDuckGo strips users’ IP addresses before requests reach model providers, deletes conversations within 30 days, and ensures chats are not used for training purposes.
“Not only do we respect user choice, but also user privacy,” Weinberg affirmed. “Everything you do in DuckDuckGo is private, we don’t collect search histories or chats and nothing is used for AI training.”
Further demonstrating its nuanced approach to AI, DuckDuckGo provides features such as Search Assist, which is comparable to Google’s AI overviews, and an AI Image Filter designed to exclude AI-generated images from search results.
Kamyl Bazbaz, DuckDuckGo’s chief communications and policy officer, highlighted that despite their differing philosophies, both of these AI features are among the company’s most popular offerings.
“People just want a choice,” Bazbaz concluded, encapsulating the core demand driving current user behavior.
TechCrunch has reached out to Google for comment regarding these developments.
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