DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused internet search engine that does not log a user’s search history or any other personally identifiable information. The company also provides a downloadable browser extension and a mobile web browser that block trackers across the websites being visited. The company’s cross-platform email protection feature generates unique private email addresses and removes trackers. As of May 2021, DuckDuckGo averaged 95.8 million search queries a day and as of the same month, held 0.6% of the global search engine market share, highest of any privacy-focused search engine. The company generates revenue by presenting non-personalized advertisements. As of June 2021, DuckDuckGo employed 129 staff.

In October 2022, DuckDuckGo launched a web browser for Mac devices integrating a range of privacy-focused features, and more robust tracker blocking compared to peers. A Windows version launched into public beta in June 2023.

In March 2023, the firm launched Duck Assist , a generative AI search function capable of compiling summaries from Wikipedia articles to respond to user queries.

Funding and financials

In June 2021, the company announced that it had raised over USD 100 million, consisting mainly of secondary investments, during 2020.

In 2020, the company witnessed more than 50 million app downloads, a 55% increase in search traffic, revenue in excess of USD 100 million, and the maintenance of a positive bottom line since 2014. The company claims to not track the number of users who use its platform, however, as of November 2020, the company estimated around 25 million users.