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

Recorded: May 27, 2026, 5 p.m.

Original

Summarized

DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode | PC Gamer

Join The Club
- Join our community

JOIN NOW

11Premium Benefits
24/7Access Available
28K+Active Members

Exclusive Articles
Member-only articles

Weekly Newsletters
Gaming & entertainment news

Commenting
Join the discussion

Member Badges
Earn badges as you go

Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws

Early Access
See the latest gaming news first

GET CLUB ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands

By submitting your information you agree to the
Terms & Conditions
and
Privacy Policy
and are aged 16 or over.

FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to
find out more information.
Find out more

GET CLUB ACCESS QUICK

Join the club for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands

By submitting your information, you confirm you are aged 16 or over,
have read our
Privacy Policy
and agree to the
Terms & Conditions. Geographical rules apply.

Welcome

to
PC Gamer club
!

Hi
,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Earn your first
badge

Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.

Keep earning badges

Explore ways to get more involved as a member.

Latest Games News
Breaking gaming news and updates

Explore

Latest Hardware News
News and reviews of the latest PC hardware.

Explore

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore

Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with PC Gamer

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out

Open menu

PC Gamer
THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES

US Edition

Canada

Australia

View Profile

Sign out

Search PC Gamer

Games

Games Insights

Gaming news

Gaming reviews

Gaming quizzes

Gaming guides

Biggest Games

Arc Raiders

Marathon

Resident Evil Requiem

Battlefield 6

Baldur's Gate 3

Deadlock

World of Warcraft

Upcoming

New games 2026

GTA 6

The Witcher 4

The Elder Scrolls 6

Haunted Chocolatier

Genres

FPS

RPG

Strategy

MMO

Action

City Builder

Survival

Puzzle

Roguelike

Series

Grand Theft Auto

The Witcher

The Sims

Fallout

The Elder Scrolls

Assassin's Creed

Call of Duty

Dark Souls

Final Fantasy

Hardware

Hardware Insights

Hardware news

Hardware reviews

Hardware deals

Computing Discounts

Components

Graphics cards

Processors

Motherboards

Storage

Memory

Power supplies

Cooling

Gaming PCs

Handheld gaming PCs

Gaming laptops

Steam machines

Peripherals

Gaming monitors

Gaming mice

Gaming keyboards

VR hardware

Controllers

Steering wheels

Desktop

Gaming chairs

Gaming desks

PC cases

Lighting

Networking

Gaming Audio

Gaming headsets

Speakers

Earbuds & headphones

Streaming

Microphones

Webcams

Capture cards

News & Opinion

Latest News

View Latest News

Games news

Hardware news

Industry news

Software news

Movies & TV news

Latest opinion

Columns

FOV 90

Dungeon Master

Terminally Online

Character Select

Reviews & Advice

Buying Guides

Best gaming laptop

Best graphics card

Best gaming PC

Best gaming mouse

Best gaming keyboard

Best gaming monitor

Best gaming chair

Best SSD

Best ofs

View Best ofs

PC Gamer Top 100

Best RPGs

Best FPS games

Best MMOs

Best survival games

Best racing games

Best Steam Deck games

Hardware Reviews

View Hardware Reviews

Gaming keyboard reviews

Gaming laptop reviews

Gaming mice reviews

Gaming monitor reviews

Gaming PC reviews

Graphics card reviews

Gaming headset reviews

SSD reviews

Game Reviews

View Game Reviews

FPS reviews

RPG reviews

Strategy reviews

MMO reviews

Action reviews

City Builder reviews

Survival reviews

Puzzle reviews

Roguelike reviews

Gaming Coupons

View Gaming Coupons

Origin PC

Herman Miller

Dell

Logitech

Sonos

Flexispot

Razer

Corsair

Guides

View Guides

Arc Raiders guides

Baldur's Gate 3 guides

Crimson Desert guides

Minecraft guides

Videos

View Videos

PC Gaming Show

PC Gamer Clips

Newsletter

Explore

Gaming Industry

Software

Movies & TV

About PC Gamer

Meet the team

PC Gaming Show

PC Gamer magazine

Affiliate links

Forum

Community guidelines

PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or deviceGet your first 3 issues for £5 From$1Subscribe now

PC Gamer

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

Become a Member in Seconds
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands

Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful

Want to add more newsletters?

Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Signup +

Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Signup +

Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Signup +

Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Signup +

Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Signup +

Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Signup +

Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Signup +

Join the club
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
Explore

An account already exists for this email address, please log in.

PopularClipsSubnautica 2Memorial Day dealsBest PC gearQuizzes

Hardware

DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode

News

By
Jess Kinghorn

published

27 May 2026

"People just want a choice."

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Serene Lee/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Copy link

Facebook

Flipboard

Share this article

Join the conversation

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter

These days, a typical Google Search feels like an obstacle course. Type out 'upcoming PC games 2026' and your gaze has to swerve around a chunky AI overview which recycles the work of human writers in a bid to kneecap efforts to click away from Google. It's a bleak state of affairs for what was once the premier discovery tool for the internet, and as such many users are looking for alternative search engines.DuckDuckGo has been one major winner of this Google Search abandonment. Just for a start, visits to its AI-free search page noai.duckduckgo.com between May 20 to May 25 are said to have increased by 22.7% on average week-on-week, with the figures peaking May 24 at 27.7%.The DuckDuckGo mobile app saw installs spike in the US by 18.1% on average compared to the previous week. TechCrunch reported this growth was sustained over six days, peaking at 30.5% on May 25. An even greater number of iOS users hit download on the app though, with installs seeing an average week-on-week growth of 33% and a peak of 69.9%.Latest Videos From

This all follows Google CEO Sundar Pichai claiming last week that, "People love [Search's AI Mode]." DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg criticised Google's all-in-on-AI approach to Search, telling Paul Thurrott, "Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out. As a result, their results are getting worse, not better. We want to be the place that puts users in charge and allows them to decide how much or how little AI they want."To be clear, Google isn't about to lose its Search crown; DuckDuckGo represents about 2% of the search engine market in the US—Google still enjoyed about 85% as of last month.

(Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images (left) / Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images (right))DuckDuckGo also offers AI products such as duck.ai, which allows users to chat privately with a number of major LLMs such as GPT-5 mini and Claude Haiku 4.5. Given that Google reported its revenue from search grew by 19% during Q1 2026—apparently thanks to its "AI experiences like AI Mode and AI Overviews"—it wouldn't make much business sense for any company to completely exile itself from the AI industry at this moment in time.However, DuckDuckGo has endeavoured to prioritise user choice and privacy. Weinberg said earlier this week, "Everything you do in DuckDuckGo is private, we don’t collect search histories or chats, and nothing is used for AI training."The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware dealsKeep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.According to chief communications officer Kamyl Bazbaz, DuckDuckGo's own AI overviews remain popular—though so does the option to filter out AI-generated images from search results. He said, "People just want a choice." Amen to that.Best gaming rigs 2026All our favorite gear1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 162. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L3. Best handheld gaming PC: Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS ed.4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3👉Check out our list of guides👈

Jess KinghornSocial Links NavigationHardware WriterJess has been writing about games for over ten years, spending a significant chunk of that time working on print publications PLAY and Official PlayStation Magazine. When she’s not investigating all things hardware here, she's either constructing a passionate defence of a 7/10 game, daydreaming about her debut novel, or feeling wistful about the last time she chased some nerds around a field with an oversized foam sword.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Logout

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1The best VPN for gaming in 2026: These privacy-protecting virtual networks keep your games lag-free2Best gaming laptops 2026: We've reviewed the best gaming laptops of this generation and these are our favorites3Best graphics cards in 2026: These are the GPUs worth spending money in right now4Best gaming laptop 2026: I've tested the best laptops for gaming of this generation and here are the ones I recommend.5Best handheld gaming PC in 2026: my recommendations for the best portable powerhouses.1Flexispot C7 Morpher chair review2Dawn of War 2 review (2009)3Razer Kiyo V2 review4Zowie EC2-DW review5Zero Parades: For Dead Spies review – A beautiful Disco Elysium follow-up, but not a very good spy game

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google

About Us

Contact Future's experts

Terms and conditions

Cookies policy

Advertise with us

Accessibility Statement

Careers

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...

DuckDuckGo's AI-free search experienced a significant surge in traffic, increasing by nearly 28% week-on-week following Google's promotion of its AI mode. This observation stems from a broader user dissatisfaction with the current experience of mainstream search engines, which is increasingly perceived by some users as an obstacle course due to the integration of AI overviews that cycle content generated by human writers, prompting many to seek alternative discovery tools. This trend highlights a demand among users for control over how search results are presented, leading to interest in platforms that prioritize user autonomy.

DuckDuckGo is presented as a major beneficiary of this search abandonment. Data indicates that visits to the AI-free search page noai.duckduckgo.com increased by an average of 22.7% week-on-week between May 20 and May 25, peaking at 27.7% on May 24. Furthermore, the DuckDuckGo mobile application saw a notable increase in installations in the United States, growing by an average of 18.1% compared to the previous week, with growth sustained over six days and peaking at 30.5% on May 25. The growth among iOS users was even more pronounced, with app installs seeing an average week-on-week growth of 33%, reaching a peak of 69.9%.

This performance shift occurs against the backdrop of Google's strategic push for AI integration. This situation is framed by the comments from DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg, who criticized Google's approach, asserting that forcing AI into the search function without an opt-out mechanism results in poorer search outcomes. Weinberg advocated for a system where users are in control of the level of AI integration they engage with. While Google has seen revenue growth from its AI features, such as AI Mode and AI Overviews, the text suggests that this focus on AI does not necessarily equate to superior user satisfaction regarding search.

DuckDuckGo maintains a philosophy centered on user choice and privacy. Weinberg emphasized that all activities within DuckDuckGo are private, explicitly stating that the search histories and chats are not collected nor are they utilized for AI training. This commitment contrasts with the broader trend toward AI integration in major search engines. Furthermore, DuckDuckGo offers its own AI-related products, such as duck.ai, which enables private conversations with various large language models, including GPT-5 mini and Claude Haiku 4.5. Ultimately, the movement reflected by the search traffic data suggests that users value privacy and the ability to select their information consumption methods over the convenience offered by default AI implementation.