Google · TechCrunch AI
As its traffic continues to climb, alternative search engine DuckDuckGo is leaning into anti-AI sentiment with the launch of new
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Once enabled, users will be directed to DuckDuckGo’s AI-free search page, where there are no AI-assisted answers, no chat prompts, and fewer AI images in the search results, the company claims.
Key facts
- DuckDuckGo says traffic to its no-AI search page was up threefold on Thursday, May 28, 2026, a new high-water mark since Google’s search announcement, and the numbers are still climbing
- The traditional “10 blue links” that defined Google in its earlier days are more of an afterthought, appearing below all this AI-fueled productivity
- Those trends followed news that Google was overhauling its search box in the biggest change to its search engine in more than 25 years
- Instead, visits are averaging roughly 84% above the baseline, suggesting a more sustained shift
Summary
As its traffic continues to climb, alternative search engine DuckDuckGo is leaning into anti-AI sentiment with the launch of new browser extensions that allow users to set its no-AI search experience, noai.duckduckgo.com, as their default search engine. The company says the extensions are meant to help people have a consistent AI-free search experience, something that’s harder to come by these days, especially after Google announced its AI-first revamp of its search engine at its developer conference earlier in May. Since then, traffic to DuckDuckGo has been booming. Those trends followed news that Google was overhauling its search box in the biggest change to its search engine in more than 25 years.