Users are switching en masse to DuckDuckGo / Unsplash
The radical update of Google's search engine, accompanied by the aggressive introduction of artificial intelligence, provoked an unexpected market reaction. Instead of being enthusiastic about the new features, a significant part of the audience began to look for alternatives where control over the search process remains in human hands.
Artificial intelligence is becoming a sentence for Google
Following the recent Google I/O conference, where the tech giant unveiled a major overhaul of its search engine, alternative service DuckDuckGo has seen a surge in popularity, TechCrunch reports, citing internal company data. Users dissatisfied with Google’s new ways of working have begun to download apps from the competitor, which traditionally focuses on privacy and lack of tracking.
At its annual developer conference, Google announced that the familiar list of links would gradually be replaced by an intelligent agent. This algorithm would independently respond to queries, perform tasks, and monitor in the background. The company called it “the biggest update in the last 25 years,” but some in the audience perceived the changes as an attempt to forcefully impose technology that does not always work correctly.
Criticism of Google has intensified over concerns that AI reviews will destroy the open web, as users will be even less likely to go to primary sources. In addition, AI often gives inaccurate answers and complicates simple things. Journalists note that even searching for the common word “disregard” has become problematic due to the new algorithms.
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Statistics of the great “relocation”
The data provided by DuckDuckGo shows the true extent of the discontent. Between May 20 and 25, the number of app installs in the US increased by an average of 18.1 percent compared to the previous week. The peak of popularity came on May 25, when the increase reached 30.5 percent.
This trend has been particularly noticeable among iPhone owners. According to 9to5Mac, iOS install rates in the US have increased by an average of 33 percent, and during peak times, this figure has jumped to an impressive 69.9 percent.
Interestingly, this spike in activity occurred over the Memorial Day weekend, when network traffic is typically low.
Google is simply imposing AI without the ability to opt out,
– commented on the situation by DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg.
He added that Google search results are getting worse, not better, so people are looking for a place where they can decide for themselves how much artificial intelligence they need.
In addition to the mobile app, users have also been visiting a special page, noai.duckduckgo.com, which disables all AI features by default, including generated responses and images. The number of visits to this resource has increased by an average of 22.7 percent.
Privacy vs. Corporate Algorithms
Despite its status as an “alternative” search engine, DuckDuckGo currently only has about 2 percent of the U.S. market. During a 2023 antitrust lawsuit, Gabriel Weinberg argued that Google’s exclusive contracts as the default search engine severely limited its ability to compete. However, the current situation gives the company a chance to attract a privacy-conscious audience.
DuckDuckGo has also incorporated AI, but it does it differently
DuckDuckGo also develops its own product called Duck.ai. It is a free service that does not require registration and provides access to models such as Anthropic's Claude 4.5 Haiku, Meta's Llama 4 Scout, Mistral Small 3 24B, and OpenAI's GPT-5 mini.
The main difference is that all chats are completely private. The system removes the user's IP address before sending the request to the model provider, and all conversations are deleted within 30 days. Moreover, user data is never used to train neural networks.
We respect not only the user's choice, but also their privacy,
– said Gabriel Weinberg.
He emphasized that the company does not collect search history or chat conversations. In addition, DuckDuckGo offers a Search Assist feature and a special image filter that allows you to hide content generated by neural networks from search results.
According to Camille Bazbaz, head of communications at DuckDuckGo, AI features are among the most popular on the service, despite the ability to disable them.
People just want to have a choice,
– he concluded.
This trend is currently most pronounced in the US, which may be a direct reaction to Google's US-focused announcements. Time will tell how the situation will develop globally, but current figures indicate a serious demand for digital autonomy and transparency from society.