As Google announced major reforms to its search engine at its annual developer conference I/O—replacing the traditional blue link list with an AI agent that can answer queries, perform tasks, and run background monitoring—the market quickly saw strong public backlash.

Critics pointed out that Google's move could stifle the open web, and the inaccurate answers provided by AI Overviews take away users' control, even complicating simple tasks (for example, users currently cannot properly search for the word "disregard" on Google). In response, Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of DuckDuckGo, clearly stated: "Google is forcing users to accept artificial intelligence without providing any exit path, causing its search results to deteriorate. We want to be a platform that truly puts users in control."

This "AI forced trend" directly led to consumer exodus, making DuckDuckGo, which has long held only 2% of the U.S. search market and focuses on privacy protection, the biggest beneficiary.

QQ20260527-085510.jpg

Key Growth Data Stand Out

According to data published by DuckDuckGo, during the period from May 20 to 25, its various metrics experienced a sudden surge (especially during the Memorial Day weekend, when traffic usually declines):

  • U.S. app downloads: An average increase of 18.1%. This momentum continued for six days and reached a peak of 30.5% on May 25.

  • iOS platform performance: The growth was even more significant, with an average increase of 33%, reaching a peak of 69.9%.

  • No AI search page (noai.duckduckgo.com): This page disables all AI functions (such as AI-assisted answers and AI-generated images), with an average increase in visits of 22.7%, reaching a peak of 27.7% on May 24.

"Choice"-Based Privacy AI Ecosystem

Although users are avoiding being forced AI, DuckDuckGo emphasizes that people dislike not the AI itself, but the "loss of choice."

In fact, DuckDuckGo also offers a popular AI search assistant and AI image filter (which filters out AI-generated images in results), and has a product called Duck.ai, a free and registration-free AI product. This product connects to various top models, including Anthropic's Claude4.5Haiku, Meta's Llama4Scout, Mistral's Small324B, and OpenAI's GPT-5mini.