DuckDuckGo Launches No-AI Search Extensions as Visits Jump 84% After Google's AI Revamp
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jun 1
DuckDuckGo Launches No-AI Search Extensions as Visits Jump 84% After Google's AI Revamp
2 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jun 1
Chrome and Firefox users can now set DuckDuckGo’s no-AI page as their default search, routing them to results without AI answers, chat prompts or most AI images.
The launch follows a traffic surge after Google’s AI-first search overhaul: visits to DuckDuckGo’s no-AI page are averaging about 84% above baseline, with a threefold spike on May 28.
DuckDuckGo also said U.S. app installs rose 18.1% week over week, while U.S. iOS installs peaked at 69.9%, suggesting the shift is extending beyond one-off web searches.
More controls are coming soon to DuckDuckGo’s Privacy Essentials extensions on Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera, even as the company continues to offer its own AI chatbot and paid AI tools.
Is DuckDuckGo's user-choice model a real challenge to Google, or a niche protest in an AI-first world?
As AI pushes 'blue links' toward extinction, is the open web's business model being permanently broken?