duckduckgo-search
    Search Engines

    The DuckDuckGo Search Engine: The Next Big Thing?

    Dylan KissaneBy Updated:82 Comments10 Mins Read

    duckduckgo-search

    When it comes to search engines there is one player that dominates all the rest: Google.

    So dominant is Google that it is only in a handful of countries around the world that a significant competitor to the behemoth from Mountain View exists, and even then it is usually still fighting just to maintain market share. When even major players in global search such as Yahoo! and Bing struggle to compete despite deep pockets and long experience in the search game it seems unthinkable to launch a new search engine and expect it to take a serious slice of Google’s cake.

    Or perhaps that should be almost unthinkable, because that is exactly what the little search engine that could, DuckDuckGo, has set out to do.

    And they might just be on their way to achieving their goal.

    About DuckDuckGo

    DuckDuckGo doesn’t boast a grand company campus in Silicon Valley and it doesn’t trundle along at Google’s impressive one-company-per-week acquisition schedule. It doesn’t allow itself to get distracted by driverless cars, wearable computers, or launching social networks that sparkle then fade. Instead, it’s headquartered in the almost anonymous Paoli, Pennsylvania, counts less than two-dozen employees, and is focused on one thing: search.

    The company was founded by Gabriel Weinberg in September 2008. Weinberg had correctly surmised that it would be impossible to compete with the established search engines and their massive indexes developed by web-crawling bots. Google, for example, indexes nearly 5 billion webpages, with millions more added every week. A small startup, especially one that at the outset consisted of only Weinberg himself, could not hope to compete with Google on scale.

    But there was an opportunity for Weinberg to compete on how those results were served to people who were searching. The minimalist Google search page quickly gives way to a page cluttered with advertising, promoted and sponsored like, information boxes, and the first ten of potentially millions of results. Sorting through all of this clutter means a less than ideal search experience, and it was here that Weiberg felt he could care out a niche.

    As the DuckDuckGo founder told Fast Company, “When you do a search, you generally want an answer. You don’t necessarily want to click around links. It’s our job to try to get an answer. Our grand vision is that that happens for 80% of queries, even for very niche things.”

    DuckDuckGo quickly found a niche group of users who enjoyed its Instant Answers – something akin to a Wolfram Alpha response to a question like ‘how tall is Michael Jordan?’ (6’5”) that appears at the top of a search page – and clean, crisp user interface.

    Yet while its audience grew, warnings appeared in the technology press that, in the world of search, all it took for a major player like Google to render a small upstart like DuckDuckGo redundant was the adoption of a similar functionality. If Google adopted something similar to Instant Answers then DuckDuckGo would be DuckDuckGone unless it had another unique selling point.

    Luckily it did.

    The Edward Snowden Bump

    The headline in The Guardian made things crystal clear: DuckDuckGo traffic soars in wake of Snowden revelations.

    In the two years since former American NSA operative and now fugitive Edward Snowden revealed how deeply the privacy of everyday citizens was being invaded via their own technology, online privacy has become a significant concern of many around the world. Users were shocked to find that the internet companies they treated with their files, their email, their photos, and their communications had either knowingly or unknowingly shared this information with intelligence agencies in the US and elsewhere.

    More generally, people were made more aware of how the companies they trusted tracked their online life, serving up advertising and recording generic but personally identifiable meta-data about individuals that could be on-sold for profit, or used to take advantage of a user’s habits. One company, Google, came to represent this corporate invasion of privacy more than any other. So popular, effective, and ubiquitous were their free applications such as Gmail, Google Docs, and the Android smartphone OS that merely having a Google account rendered a person subject to tracking that would have been rejected as a clear invasion of privacy if implemented by government decree.

    And so people started looking for an anti-Google, a search provider that would not track their location, search history, or modify the search results that were served based on prior history or interests, and thus trap the user in a filtered bubble of reinforcing information.

    The anti-Google they found was DuckDuckGo.

    As Weinberg would tell CNBC, “We always knew people didn’t want to be tracked, but what hadn’t happened was reporting on the private alternatives. So it’s no surprise that people are making a choice to switch to things that will give them great results and also have real privacy.”

    DuckDuckGo’s Unique Selling Point

    duckduckgo-privacy

    Privacy quickly became DuckDuckGo’s primary unique selling point. Unlike Google and other search engines, DuckDuckGo did not retain user data, it didn’t care where you searched from, what you searched for last week, or record any identifying information that might be requested by authorities. As the South China Morning Post put it:

    DuckDuckGo’s privacy policy states that it “will comply with court-ordered legal requests”, not unlike Google’s own privacy policy. But DuckDuckGo follows with: “However, in our case, we don’t expect any because there is nothing useful to give them since we don’t collect any personal information.”

    DuckDuckGo has managed to establish itself as the search engine for fast, anonymous search online. It doesn’t place cookies on a users computer to keep a track of a search history, it doesn’t log the IP addresses behind search terms, and even clicking on a link on a DuckDuckGo search results page won’t reveal to the site behind that link what led you to their site.

    DuckDuckGo is able to do this because its business model is very different to Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and other players in the search market. Google’s entire business model, for example, is built on the back of its targeted advertising reach. By tracking users, their preferences, their search history, their use of different applications, and the keywords they seek information about online, Google can determine exactly what advertising those users might like to see, and serve those ads to the individual user. For the company placing the advertisement they are sure they are targeting a usually interested and likely qualified customer. Google, as the middleman in the customer/advertiser relationship, takes a cut. Google, therefore, must know as much as possible about the people searching through their site; it needs to in order to make any money at all.

    DuckDuckGo, on the other hand, does not have access to any of this data by choice. In order to monetize, then, it simply serves advertising on its search results pages that are in line with the keywords sought by users. Hence, if you search for the term ‘car’ it is possible you’ll see an advertisement for a car. If you search for ‘car new york’ then you’ll likely see advertising localized to the Big Apple. But the advertising that will be served is based on the search term, not the searcher themselves. hence DuckDuckGo has no need to track the user data; it just doesn’t need to in order to make money.

    Hence, while it is possible that Google, Yahoo!, Bing and others might imitate DuckDuckGo’s Instant Answers feature, or develop a user interface similar to DuckDuckGo’s to woo prospective users, it is almost impossible for them to successfully adopt a privacy policy similar to DuckDuckGo’s. To do so would be to lose the ability to make money at all, and so it’s no surprise that privacy stands as DuckDuckGo’s primary unique selling point today.

    DuckDuckGo, then, is creating quite the buzz. And they are also creating quite the bang.

    !Bangs: The DuckDuckGo Search That Isn’t On DuckDuckGo

    duckduckgo-bangs

    One of the search engine’s key innovations has been the introduction of ‘bags’, stylized by the company as ‘!bangs’.

    DuckDuckGo explains the concept and operation of !bangs like this:

    !Bang commands perform your searches directly on other search engines. Sometimes you know you want to go directly to another site to search, and these commands save you steps in doing so.

    For example, suppose you wanted to search Amazon.com for ‘bags’. In that case, you could just enter ‘!a bags’ into DuckDuckGo and we’ll take you right to the correct search results page on Amazon.com.

    If you’ve adjusted your region in the Settings menu, your !bangs will automatically direct you to the site for that region, if available. For example, if Germany is selected in the Settings, then !amazon will go to amazon.de.

    A !bang search for Amazon is one thing, but DuckDuckGo has similar bangs for more than six thousand sites today. As with any other DuckDuckGo search, a search with a !bang command remains encrypted and personal details are not divulged to the site in question. Amazon won’t know who is searching for bags (unless you have remained logged into their site and have retained their tracking cookie for when you arrive) and it is a time saver, too: unlike a Google search for “bags amazon” which will return a page of links for bags on the Amazon site, DuckDuckGo sends you straight to the relevant results on the Amazon page.

    Users can submit their own ideas for a !bang and thousands have been accepted by the company, meaning the the possibilities of DuckDuckGo !bangs is essentially infinite.

    As are the search results pages.

    Infinite Scroll (or, Everyone On Page One)

    The pressure for businesses and website owners to appear on page one of a Google search engine results page is immense. Studies have shown that more than 95% of users click on a result on the first page of search results they encounter and so not being one the first page can be deadly for a business. Ranking 11th is almost as bad as not ranking at all for a keyword was the vast majority of users searching for that keyword will never click to go to page two of the results.

    With DuckDuckGo there is no such problem.

    DuckDuckGo by default employs an infinite scroll interface. The first page of results is the only page of results, and it is just a flick of a scroll wheel to move down the list. This encourages users to consider the 11th, 12th and 13th results – perhaps even more – as there is no need to click on page 2, 3 or 4 as on Google. While a good ranking is still important, when the 11th result is only a line away from the 10th result instead of a page, it makes it a little easier on business while providing more relevant results for users with every search.

    The Next Big Thing in Search?

    DuckDuckGo is in the right place at the right time with its privacy-first approach to web search. As users become more aware of their privacy online and offline, and as they become more wary of internet and technology companies abusing their significant power over their personal data, companies like DuckDuckGo are well placed to grow, and then grow some more.

    With a business model that doesn’t rely on tracking users and strategy that can be profitable with only a small fraction of the total search market, DuckDuckGo might be the next big thing in search. Time will tell whether they can continue to rise, but all signs look positive for DuckDuckGo to DuckDuckGrow.

    Have you used DuckDuckGo? Will you return to Google? Tell us in comments below or on Twitter!

    Share.

    Related Posts

    View 82 Comments

    82 Comments

    1. Kevin Pratt on

      Great info, but I have specific questions about duckduckgo. I’m NEARLY getting the answers, but not quite. I’m also a poor man, and as such, I can’t afford to pay or “donate” for the answers I need. I would really appreciate help too, because I’ve recently been hacked and want all of the protection I can get. If someone could take some time out of their day to talk to me, I would be extremely grateful. I’m not computer (or phone) savvy and I never access my email, because I don’t know how. If someone computer intelligent would contact me. It’d be great. Tremendous thanks.

      Reply
    14. Outsourcing MarketResearch on

      naturally like your web site however you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth on the other hand I will surely come again again.

      Reply
    23. Outsourcing DataEntry on

      naturally like your web site however you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth on the other hand I will surely come again again.

      Reply
    26. Xochilt on

      If you are going for finest contents like myself, just pay a quick visit this website
      every day since it offers quality contents, thanks

      Reply
    27. Thad on

      Hi there would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with?
      I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a hard time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
      The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for
      something completely unique. P.S Apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!

      Reply
    28. Jarome on

      Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It really
      useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help
      others like you aided me.

      Reply
    29. Kristal on

      I don’t know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else experiencing issues with your blog.

      It looks like some of the written text on your posts are running off the screen. Can somebody else please
      provide feedback and let me know if this is happening to
      them as well? This could be a issue with my web browser because I’ve had this happen before.
      Many thanks

      Reply
    31. Merrill on

      Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m inspired!

      Extremely useful information specifically the closing section :
      ) I handle such information much. I used to be looking for
      this particular info for a long time. Thanks and
      good luck.

      Reply
    32. Ellie on

      Great site you have got here.. It’s difficult to find high-quality writing like yours nowadays.

      I seriously appreciate individuals like
      you! Take care!!

      Reply
    34. Eward on

      hello there and thank you for your info – I have certainly picked up anything new from right
      here. I did however expertise several technical points using this website, as I experienced to reload the website a
      lot of times previous to I could get it to load correctly.
      I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I’m complaining,
      but sluggish loading instances times will often affect your placement in google
      and could damage your high-quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords.
      Anyway I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for
      much more of your respective intriguing content.
      Ensure that you update this again soon.

      Reply
    35. Lelia on

      Hey, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues.
      When I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
      I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, awesome blog!

      Reply
    36. Aileen on

      Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to assert that I get in fact enjoyed account your blog
      posts. Anyway I will be subscribing to your feeds and
      even I achievement you access consistently rapidly.

      Reply
    37. Dianne on

      Howdy would you mind letting me know which hosting company you’re using?
      I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different web browsers and I
      must say this blog loads a lot faster then most.
      Can you recommend a good hosting provider at a honest price?
      Thanks, I appreciate it!

      Reply
    38. Ivan on

      When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox
      and now each time a comment is added I get four e-mails with the same
      comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
      Thanks a lot!

      Reply
    39. Angus on

      Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this
      blog loading? I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if it’s
      the blog. Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.

      Reply
    40. Roxie on

      I believe this is among the most important info for me.
      And i am glad studying your article. But should observation on some normal things, The site style is
      wonderful, the articles is in reality nice : D.
      Good process, cheers

      Reply
    41. Marlon on

      It’s hard to come by knowledgeable people for this subject, but you seem like you know what you’re talking about!
      Thanks

      Reply
    42. Wiley on

      Very great post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that
      I have really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
      After all I’ll be subscribing for your rss feed and I am hoping you write
      again soon!

      Reply
    46. Barak on

      Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely believe that this web site needs far more attention.
      I’ll probably be returning to see more, thanks for
      the info!

      Reply
    47. Katrin on

      Hello my loved one! I want to say that this post is amazing, nice written and include almost
      all important infos. I’d like to peer more posts like this .

      Reply
    48. Infant on

      I absolutely love your blog and find nearly all of your post’s to be
      just what I’m looking for. Do you offer guest writers to write content for you personally?
      I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on a lot of the
      subjects you write with regards to here. Again, awesome site!

      Reply
    49. Her on

      Hi my friend! I wish to say that this article is amazing,
      nice written and come with almost all vital infos.
      I’d like to look extra posts like this .

      Reply
    50. Nicolo on

      Great website. A lot of helpful info here. I am sending it
      to some pals ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thank you on your sweat!

      Reply
    51. Carin on

      Fantastic post however , I was wondering if you could write a
      litte more on this topic? I’d be very grateful
      if you could elaborate a little bit more. Thanks!

      Reply
    52. Khaleah on

      I’ve been browsing online greater than 3 hours these days, but I never found any attention-grabbing article like yours.

      It is lovely price enough for me. Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content material
      as you did, the internet might be much more helpful than ever before.

      Reply
    53. Amr on

      I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your
      blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later on. Many thanks

      Reply
    54. Ivan on

      Thanks for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your next write ups thanks once again.

      Reply
    55. Joclyn on

      I enjoy what you guys tend to be up too. This kind of clever work and coverage!
      Keep up the fantastic works guys I’ve you guys to blogroll.

      Reply
    57. Spencer on

      Its such as you learn my mind! You appear to understand a lot approximately this, such as you wrote the
      ebook in it or something. I feel that you simply can do with
      some % to force the message house a bit, but instead of that, this is wonderful blog.
      An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.

      Reply
    58. Keefe on

      Hey there! I just would like to give you a big
      thumbs up for your great information you have right here on this post.

      I will be returning to your blog for more soon.

      Reply
    61. Davena on

      whoah this weblog is excellent i like studying your articles.
      Stay up the great work! You realize, lots of individuals are hunting around for
      this info, you can aid them greatly.

      Reply
    62. Shandel on

      My brother suggested I might like this website. He
      was entirely right. This post actually made my day.

      You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for
      this information! Thanks!

      Reply
    64. Arwa on

      Hiya very nice site!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I’ll bookmark
      your web site and take the feeds also? I’m satisfied to seek out
      a lot of helpful info here within the post, we’d like
      develop more techniques on this regard, thanks for sharing.
      . . . . .

      Reply
    66. Sentoria on

      Thank you for another informative site. Where else may I
      am getting that type of info written in such an ideal way?

      I have a undertaking that I am just now operating on, and I’ve been on the look out for such info.

      Reply
    67. Girl on

      I need to to thank you for this good read!! I certainly loved every bit of it.
      I have got you saved as a favorite to look at new stuff you
      post…

      Reply
    68. Deneshia on

      Everything is very open with a very clear explanation of the challenges.
      It was really informative. Your website is extremely helpful.
      Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    69. Karmen on

      Your style is unique in comparison to other folks I have read
      stuff from. I appreciate you for posting when you have the opportunity,
      Guess I will just book mark this blog.

      Reply
    70. Britny on

      Hi there, I found your web site via Google at the same time as searching for a
      related matter, your website got here up, it appears to be like
      good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

      Hello there, just became aware of your weblog through Google, and located that
      it is truly informative. I am going to be careful for brussels.
      I will be grateful if you happen to continue this in future.
      A lot of people might be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

      Reply
    71. Patrecia on

      magnificent points altogether, you just won a emblem new reader.
      What would you recommend in regards to your submit that you made
      some days in the past? Any positive?

      Reply
    74. Deysi on

      Excellent post however , I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this subject?
      I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit
      further. Bless you!

      Reply
    75. Carmin on

      I have been browsing online more than 4 hours today, yet I never
      found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me.
      In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be much more useful
      than ever before.

      Reply
    76. Ilyse on

      When someone writes an article he/she retains the thought of
      a user in his/her mind that how a user can know it.
      Thus that’s why this article is perfect. Thanks!

      Reply
    82. scooter in vegas on

      892190 934080Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to much more added agreeable from you! Nonetheless, how could we communicate? 57871

      Reply

    Leave A Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.