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

#1

Post by HelloUsername » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:28 PM UTC

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

#2

Post by 256BitChris » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:35 PM UTC

From my experience the Google AI mode is more restrictive on what it will let you search for and the content it produces.

I personally have had to use DuckDuckGo to search for things that Gemini finds to be against its instructions to answer.

And I'm not talking about things that are NSFW, but some things that Gemini just doesn't want to discuss.

That's kinda Gemini's problem in general, it just is overly restrictive and doesn't like to talk about anything things that Claude will freely talk about and push against and discuss with you.

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

#3

Post by rvnx » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:47 PM UTC

256BitChris wrote: post #2

From my experience the Google AI mode is more restrictive on what it will let you search for and the content it produces. I personally have had to use DuckDuckGo to search for things that Gemini finds to be against its instructions to answer. And I'm not talking about things that are NSFW, but some things that Gemini just doesn't want to discuss. That's kinda Gemini's problem in general, it just is overly restrictive…

You are absolutely right, DuckDuckGo is better for porn than Google, but if you want even better results you can use Yandex.

For other things, Grok is quite fast — Perplexity too

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

#4

Post by John7878781 » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:47 PM UTC

AI mode isn't that terrible.

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

#5

Post by al_borland » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:52 PM UTC

My friends who previously had no interest in technology and never talked about it, are suddenly following tech news closely all because they hate AI being pushed so hard. One was just messaging me this morning about alternatives to Google search and maps. He ended up downloading DuckDuckGo.

If Google isn’t carefully they’re going to push people away from their golden goose.

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

#6

Post by mt_ » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC

As someone who has been driving DDG for the past 6 years, i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information and validate ideas.. no friction included.

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

#7

Post by wotsdat » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:54 PM UTC

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

#8

Post by Legend2440 » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:55 PM UTC

Both statements can be true, you know.

Some people can love AI mode while others hate it.

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

#9

Post by huflungdung » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:57 PM UTC

Legend2440 wrote: post #8

Both statements can be true, you know. Some people can love AI mode while others hate it.

[dead]

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

#10

Post by root-parent » Wed, May 27, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

"Google’s AI Overviews Don't Have an Off Switch. 4 Tricks to Return to Traditional Web Results" - https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/googles-ai-overviews-dont-h...