DuckDuckGo installs surge 30% as users flee Google's AI Search overhaul
After Google revealed a significant overhaul of its Search at the I/O developer conference, DuckDuckGo experienced a notable increase in both installs and traffic. The privacy-centric search engine indicated that U.S. app installations surged by 18.1% from May 20 to May 25, reaching a peak of 30.5% on May 25. On iOS, the average growth was 33%, with a high of 69.9%. Traffic to its AI-free search site, noai.duckduckgo.com, saw a weekly growth of 22.7%, peaking at 27.7% on May 24. Apptopia's third-party data revealed a 29% rise in average daily U.S. downloads and a 12% increase globally in that timeframe. DuckDuckGo's CEO, Gabriel Weinberg, criticized Google for its AI approach, while DuckDuckGo provides its own AI product, Duck.ai, featuring various models and privacy safeguards. A Google representative mentioned that AI Overviews have been around for two years and that AI Mode is not the default, citing a blog post indicating over one billion monthly users for AI Mode.
Key facts
- DuckDuckGo U.S. app installs rose 18.1% week-over-week from May 20 to May 25, peaking at 30.5% on May 25.
- On iOS, install growth averaged 33% week-over-week, peaking at 69.9%.
- Visits to noai.duckduckgo.com averaged 22.7% weekly growth, peaking at 27.7% on May 24.
- Apptopia found a 29% increase in average daily U.S. downloads and 12% globally.
- Google announced a Search overhaul at I/O, introducing AI Overviews and AI Mode.
- DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg said Google is 'force-feeding AI with no way to opt out.'
- DuckDuckGo offers Duck.ai with models from Anthropic, Meta, Mistral, and OpenAI.
- Google's AI Mode has surpassed one billion monthly users, per VP Elizabeth Reid.
Entities
Institutions
- DuckDuckGo
- TechCrunch
- Apptopia
- Anthropic
- Meta
- Mistral
- OpenAI
Locations
- United States