DuckDuckGo is now more than just a search engine

If you do anything online, you’re probably being tracked. Whether you’re shopping, subscribing, or scrolling through social media, companies typically want to collect your data so they can get more from advertisers. DuckDuckGo wants to help you avoid that by offering a range of privacy-focused tools and features, including its privacy-focused web browser.

There are other private browsers, such as Brave and the Mullvad browserthat keep people from monitoring your online activity. But DuckDuckGo bills itself as a direct competitor to Google Search, complete with a mobile app and extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and other browsers, as well as Windows And Mac Browsers in Public BetaAnd the company has significantly expanded its offerings in recent years, making it a more robust service for protecting your privacy.

After major incidents such as the Cambridge Analytica scandalPeople have become more aware of how much personal information is available to tech companies and advertisers — and are choosing not to be tracked when they can. While it doesn’t track users, DuckDuckGo’s browser and extensions were tracked more than 250 million times from September 2023.

Here’s what you need to know about DuckDuckGo and how it tries to make your searches safer.

What is DuckDuckGo?

DuckDuckGo started as a browser and search engine that promised to keep your search activity anonymous and not track you online, but the company has since expanded to offer a wider range of services, including paid offerings under its Privacy Pro A package that combines a VPN, personal information removal, and identity theft recovery.

Read more: Best VPNs of 2024

How does the DuckDuckGo browser work?

For starters, DuckDuckGo doesn’t keep track of searches made through its browser extension or mobile app. Other browsers, including Chrome, let you use private or incognito windows that don’t keep track of your search history, but their default windows do. (That’s the basis of any “embarrassing search history(Just kidding.) Instead of requiring you to navigate to another version of the app, DuckDuckGo never keeps your search history.

Searches performed through DuckDuckGo also automatically connect you to encrypted versions of websites where possible, making it harder for others to see what you’re looking at online. This is another scenario where both options (encrypted and unencrypted) exist on other search engines, but the default option isn’t always the privacy-friendly one. DuckDuckGo saves you the extra steps of manually navigating to encrypted connections.

DuckDuckGo came under fire in May 2022 when researchers discovered a number of Microsoft tracking scripts running in DuckDuckGo’s browsers. The presence of Microsoft trackers appeared to run counter to the search engine’s privacy promise, and DuckDuckGo’s founder and CEO clarified on Reddit that the company was “currently contractually constrained by Microsoft” from stopping Microsoft scripts from loading completely. This is because the company uses Microsoft’s Bing to power its search results, which the company had previously announcedThe company followed this up a few months later by announcing that it Microsoft further restricts trackers in its browsers.

DuckDuckGo also actively blocks external trackers to track you online. For a more detailed explanation of DuckDuckGo’s privacy features, see DuckDuckGo’s blog.

How is DuckDuckGo different from Google Search? What are incognito mode and private browsing?

DuckDuckGo essentially takes the opposite approach compared to other big tech companies like Google and Facebook, which traditionally made money by targeted advertising based on your browsing history and personal information. Although Google originally said it would stop this practice, the company reversed course in June. It collects a lot of data about you, including your location And search activity — yes, even in incognito mode.

Incognito mode simply deletes information related to your browsing session from your computer: your history, cookies, and any information you’ve entered into fields. Interestingly, it only does this after you end your session by closing all of your tabs. So if you leave your incognito tabs open for hours or days at a time, that information will still pile up. And no matter what, Google can save your searches — and companies, ISPs, and governments can still track you around the web even when you’re in incognito mode, though the company did agree to destroy billions of incognito records earlier this year.

DuckDuckGo doesn’t store your browsing data at all and blocks trackers as you surf.

If DuckDuckGo doesn’t target ads, how does it make money?

DuckDuckGo still makes money from ads — it just doesn’t use targeted ads. The search engine shows you ads based on the keywords you search for, which aren’t tied to any of your personal information like your browsing or purchase history. In fact, you’ll only see ads for what you’re currently searching for, not that weird product your friend sent you a link to last week that you can’t get rid of.

Earlier this year, the company also launched a paid subscription plan called Privacy Pro. Subscribers get access to DuckDuckGo’s VPN, personal information erasure service, and identity theft recovery service. Privacy Pro costs $10 per month or $100 for an annual subscription.

How can I use DuckDuckGo?

The easiest way to use DuckDuckGo is to download the browser. On mobile devices, simply open your app store and search for “DuckDuckGo.” On desktop, go to duckduckgo.comwhere you will see a button to download the DuckDuckGo browser. Besides getting more private web searches, you can also play around with other features like email protection, app tracking protection, and even an anonymous platform for using AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude.

For more information about online privacy, see the Five Reasons to Leave Google for DuckDuckGo and what you need to know about DuckDuckGo’s Free AI Feature DuckAssist.