DuckDuckGo Browser

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DuckDuckGo Browser

Basic Information
Release Year	2008
Product Type	Browser
In Production	Yes
Official Website	https://duckduckgo.com/

DuckDuckGo, founded in 2008 by Gabriel Weinberg, is a minimalistic privacy focused browser. Additionally, DuckDuckGo also claims to offer features like encryption and tracker blocking to enhance online security. The company is based in Paoli, Pennsylvania.

Consumer impact summary

Freedom

Despite its reputation for privacy and freedom, DuckDuckGo has had controversies regarding filtered/disranked content. Consequently, DuckDuckGo’s claims to unrestricted content can be ruled as questionable.

Privacy

While it’s user privacy is significantly better than most other mainstream browsers, DuckDuckGo has been involved in controversies in regards to discrimination in blocking trackers.

Business model

DuckDuckGo primarily generates revenue through keyword-based advertising. In addition to this, DuckDuckGo also earns income from subscription fees paid to access its Privacy Pro feature.

Market control

DuckDuckGo is a relatively niche browser in comparison to behemoths in the space such as Google, and to a lesser degree, Bing. However, when compared to other privacy-focused browsers DuckDuckGo fares pretty well against competition.

Incidents

This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the DuckDuckGo Browser category.

Political Censorship (3/1/2025)

Main article: link to the main article

DuckDuckGo’s owner announced that the search engine would be de-ranking websites deemed to spread Russian misinformation.

Piracy Censorship (4/15/2022)

Main article: link to the main article

DuckDuckGo has completely removed the search results for numerous popular pirate websites, including The Pirate Bay, 1337x, and Fmovies.

Tracking Block Bias (5/22/2022)

Main article: link to the main article

DuckDuckGo's privacy browser allows Microsoft trackers on third-party websites due to a search syndication agreement with Microsoft. However, this changed in August when DuckDuckGo’s contract with Microsoft expired, and Microsoft’s tracking was also blocked.

See also

• Google
• Bing
• Yandex