How Anonymous Is DuckDuckGo? (2024)

DuckDuckGo is a privacy-friendly search engine that offers anonymity in the highly monitored online environment. While Google is synonymous with online search, the tech giant is notorious for its invasive privacy practices. If you’re concerned about the data that Google and other search engines collect about you, it’s worth checking out DuckDuckGo.

This private search engine doesn’t track your online activities or collect and share user data with third parties. DuckDuckGo is great for privacy, but it has some shortcomings — it doesn’t hide your online activities from your internet service provider (ISP) or protect you from malicious sites.

That’s why we recommend pairing DuckDuckGo with a trusted virtual private network (VPN), like NordVPN, for complete anonymity online. This VPN hides your IP address and encrypts your traffic, ensuring no one can uncover your identity or track your online activities.

What Is DuckDuckGo?

DuckDuckGo is a search engine designed to protect your privacy. You can use it by visiting DuckDuckGo’s website or installing its browser extension on Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, and other browsers.

There’s also a DuckDuckGo browser (available for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows devices) that offers the “most comprehensive online privacy protection,” according to the company. DuckDuckGo’s browser allows you to search the web privately and avoid invasive trackers that follow you across different websites.

While it’s primarily a search engine, there’s more to DuckDuckGo. For example, it has a free email forwarding service that removes hidden trackers in emails and allows you to create private email addresses.

Why choose DuckDuckGo?

So, why choose DuckDuckGo? Our cybersecurity experts have summarized a few reasons why you should consider switching to DuckDuckGo:

• Search engines like Google track and store data about you. DuckDuckGo doesn’t track, store, or share your information. Although it partners with big companies like Bing and Wikipedia, DuckDuckGo doesn’t share your data with third parties.

• Google collects data about your online activities to build a profile that it uses to deliver targeted ads. This could, for example, result in ads related to medical problems you’ve researched on Google. DuckDuckGo does not collect information about you to deliver targeted ads.
• Encryption is important to safeguard your privacy. DuckDuckGo always brings up the encrypted (or HTTPS) version of any website you try to visit.

Whether you choose to use DuckDuckGo or not, a trusted VPN will bolster your safety online. NordVPN doesn’t just keep you anonymous; it also shields you from pesky ads, protects you from malware, and can unblock geo-restricted websites.

How does DuckDuckGo make money?

DuckDuckGo mainly generates income via advertising and affiliate partnerships. The independent internet privacy company has a keyword-based advertising model. So, while DuckDuckGo shows you ads, they aren’t personalized. The ads you see are based on your search terms, not your browsing history or personal data.

As part of its affiliate partnerships, DuckDuckGo receives a commission every time you visit sites like Amazon and eBay from its search results. DuckDuckGo insists that its involvement in affiliate programs does not affect the order of its search results, and it doesn’t share users’ personal data with these companies.

DuckDuckGo vs. Google: Privacy and Features

Google generally offers a more feature-rich experience than DuckDuckGo. Features like the “People also ask” section on Google Search are missing on the DuckDuckGo search engine.

Here’s a quick comparison of the key features and differences between Google and DuckDuckGo:

It’s worth mentioning that DuckDuckGo has some of the useful features you’ll also find on Chrome. For example, DuckDuckGo’s private sync allows you to synchronize your browsing information across different devices, just like Chrome. However, with DuckDuckGo, your data is protected with end-to-end encryption.

Now, let’s take a closer look at why DuckDuckGo offers better privacy than Google Chrome.

No stored search history

Unlike Google and other search engines, DuckDuckGo doesn’t store your search history. This means no one can see your past searches, even if you’re sharing a device.

DuckDuckGo is a major improvement on Google for privacy, but it isn’t enough on its own — your internet service provider can still track your online activity. Combining DuckDuckGo with a robust VPN like NordVPN shields your privacy more effectively and ensures you’re completely anonymous online.

No third-party trackers

DuckDuckGo protects your privacy by blocking advertising trackers. These trackers collect information about you so advertisers can get you to buy a product or sign up for a service. They are the reason you may see ads about the things you searched for on Google or Bing.

Trackers gather information about you through your web browsing history — whether you’re in private browsing or not. Third-party trackers can be active on a website without you knowing.

Using DuckDuckGo in combination with a reliable VPN is one of the most effective ways to block third-party trackers. We recommend using the DuckDuckGo browser or its Privacy Essentials extension to benefit from its tracker-blocking feature.

DuckDuckGo’s browser and extension have a Global Privacy Control setting. This setting, which is enabled by default, expresses your opt-out right automatically, ensuring websites and other online platforms know that you don’t consent to having your data collected or shared with third parties.

No profiles

Most search engines create a profile of you based on your online behavior, search history, age, gender, IP address, and browser cookies. This means your identity can be linked to the sites you visit and your search history.

DuckDuckGo doesn’t create profiles like this. This gives you a level of privacy that most other search engines don’t provide.

Encrypted search data

Unlike its competitors, DuckDuckGo’s search engine uses smart encryption; it forces sites to use an encrypted connection when available.

As a result, DuckDuckGo automatically sends you to the HTTPS version of any website you click. This gives you an extra bit of security while browsing online. With that said, not every site supports HTTPs connection; some sites still use unencrypted HTTP. Using a VPN is a great way to safeguard your privacy, ensuring your data isn’t compromised even on unencrypted HTTP sites.

Less spam, more security

DuckDuckGo does away with all the clutter that crowds Google Search results, including advertisem*nts and spam. It only includes results with titles and meta descriptions written by humans. Official sites are usually placed at the top of search results and labeled so you can find them more easily.

DuckDuckGo also works with the Parked Domain Project to crawl the web and eliminate spam from its search results. Many of these spam websites are included in Google Search results, but you won’t find them on DuckDuckGo. While Google relies on algorithms to combat spam, DuckDuckGo uses human-powered resources.

Unfiltered results

When you use a search engine for a long time, you may start seeing the same information repetitively in your search results. This is because the algorithm gives you the data it thinks you want to see rather than what everyone else sees when they perform the same search.

As you can see in the screenshot below, Google recommends a previous search term (and this translates to the results you see):

This filtering means you could be missing out on information that’s available online. But DuckDuckGo doesn’t store any information that could influence your search results in this way. In other words, you’ll get the same results as everyone else searching for the same term.

!bangs

DuckDuckGo performs just as well as Google in terms of its functionality. We were pleased with some of its nifty features, like !bangs, which lets you quickly perform searches on 13,000+ websites like Amazon, Twitter, and Wikipedia.

Suppose you want to search Amazon.com for “cameras.” In that case, you could enter “!a cameras” into DuckDuckGo, and it will bring up the correct search results page on Amazon.com. During our tests, we found that we could even submit our own custom !bangs for websites we search often.

Safe Search

DuckDuckGo’s Safe Search removes adult content from results. This search engine offers two Safe Search levels, namely Strict and Moderate. There are a few different ways to control Safe Search:

• Use the dropdown box under the search box on any search results page.
• Use the “Safe Search” option on the DuckDuckGo settings page.

  

• Add “!safeoff” at the start of your search term.
• Rse safe.duckduckgo.com: searches from safe.duckduckgo.com always have Safe Search set to “Strict.”

Drawbacks of Using DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo’s privacy features are pretty good, but it has some limitations compared to Google. Here are some of the downsides of DuckDuckGo:

• DuckDuckGo uses Apple Maps and Yelp reviews in its local results. As a result, it provides just a fraction of the data shown by Google Maps and Review. The number of Yelp reviews is simply much lower.
• DuckDuckGo has a lower crawl budget than Google, so search results can be less comprehensive. You’ll also miss out on Google’s “People Also Ask” and “Related Searches” sections, as well as real-time Google Maps tracking.
• Finding what you’re searching for on DuckDuckGo can take longer than usual compared to Google since you’re getting unfiltered, organic search results. In some cases, this can be inconvenient.

You might also miss the personalization that Google offers. It can be convenient when Google predicts what you’re trying to find. But putting your privacy at risk for convenience isn’t a good bargain. So, if you must use Google, ensure you’re also using NordVPN to protect your privacy.

DuckDuckGo Alternatives

While DuckDuckGo offers better privacy than Google, it may not be the best search engine for everyone. Just like there are alternatives to Google, there are alternatives for people looking for privacy-focused search engines. Here are a few alternatives to DuckDuckGo:

1. Swisscows: A DuckDuckGo alternative with built-in translation

If anonymous browsing is your foremost priority, Swisscows is an excellent alternative to DuckDuckGo. This lesser-known search engine, created by Switzerland-based Hulbee AG, doesn’t track IP addresses or other personal data.

Swisscows does log some data, like the number of daily searches users perform, which helps the company measure data traffic. You can search for websites, images, videos, and music on Swisscows. It also offers a translation feature which is not as good as Google Translate and other online translators.

2. Startpage: DuckDuckGo alternative that’ll hide your IP address

Startpage is a search engine that has been around since 1998 and claims to be the world’s most private search engine. It protects its users’ privacy by not storing any personal information or sharing user data with third parties.

One of the biggest advantages of Startpage is that it incorporates Google Search results into its results. In essence, Startpage offers the safety of a private search engine along with all the benefits of using Google Search.

Startpage has a useful proxy feature that protects your IP address, but it’s not as effective as a VPN. NordVPN does a better job of hiding your IP address across different websites and devices.

3. Qwant: Use shortcuts to search for specific results online

Qwant is a French search engine that doesn’t track your searches or store your private information for advertising purposes.

This search engine has a feature similar to DuckDuckGo’s !bangs. This feature, called Qwick Search, provides you with shortcuts that you can use to search for particular pages on websites.

There are several other useful filter options available on Qwant that can help you find the right results quickly.

DuckDuckGo: Stop to Tracking and Targeted Ads

DuckDuckGo offers a truly private way to browse the web. While Google is a more popular search engine, it poses serious privacy risks.

We strongly recommend making DuckDuckGo your default search engine, but it’s not enough. For total anonymity online, we recommend using a VPN to complement DuckDuckGo’s privacy features. NordVPN offers military-grade data encryption, IP cloaking, anti-malware tools, and much more.

Interested in learning more about how to protect your privacy and stay anonymous online? Check out our guides below:

• Our Online Anonymity Test: What Data Does Your Device Leak?
• The Best Online Data Removal Services
• Incognito Mode: Does It Really Make You Anonymous?

Chris BluvshteinAuthor

Senior Journalist

Chris is a tech journalist with many years’ experience covering online privacy and cybersecurity. He’s also a published author and works as a Product Manager for some of the most innovative software development companies.

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