DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

Following Google CEO Sundar Pichai's claim that "people love" Google Search's AI mode, DuckDuckGo experienced a significant surge in traffic, with visits to its AI-free search page increasing by 22.7% week-on-week and mobile app installs jumping 18-33% depending on the platform. DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg criticized Google's mandatory AI integration, positioning DuckDuckGo as a privacy-focused alternative that lets users choose their level of AI involvement. While DuckDuckGo still represents only 2% of the US search market compared to Google's 85%, the spike suggests growing user frustration with Google's aggressive AI-driven search results.