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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Technology
Anthony Cuthbertson

DuckDuckGo use triples after Google Search ‘force feeds’ AI to users

The search engine DuckDuckGo has a fraction of the users of Google but has gained popularity in 2026 - (iStock/ Getty Images)

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has seen a massive surge of new users after Google announced a series of AI-related updates to its platform.

In the week that followed Google’s annual I/O developer conference last month, which saw the US tech giant unveil a “new era for AI search”, DuckDuckGo saw app installs increase by nearly a third, while interest in its ‘No AI’ search page tripled.

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