Duck Duck Go for Broke

You might know Duck Duck Go as the privacy-first search engine. You know, the one that doesn’t track your every move before, during, and after using it in an attempt to shove “relevant” ads in your face everywhere you go on the web. (Those guys are called Google.) Now, after the biggest and best year in Duck Duck Go’s history, they’ve announced that they’re embarking on a new venture: bringing privacy to more than just your search page.

More Like Duck Duck Grow

In 2016, Duck Duck Go tallied more than 10 billion search queries, and to start the year they enjoyed their highest single-day volume ever, with more than 14 million searches in a single early-January day. Not bad for company that was founded just seven years ago and is literally going head-to-head with the biggest name in the tech industry. And that’s just the beginning.

As Duck Duck Go founder Gabriel Weinberg recently told Wired, “[W]hen you click off the search engine and you’re taken to somewhere else on the web… If we can make that experience more private for you, that’s what we’re thinking of.”

Now, Weinberg didn’t really get into the specifics of how Duck Duck Go will create a more private experience, though he did note that his company’s next move won’t be an email service. Basically, the company is looking into any and all venues for keeping users’ info safe and secure once they leave the Duck Duck Go SERP.

“We’re thinking of […] more of a holistic privacy solution,” Weinberg said in the Wired piece. “[W]e’re thinking more generally how can we do more to protect your privacy when you’re browsing around the web.”

That’s about as vague as can be, but it makes perfect sense in relation to the company’s brand. Duck Duck Go is all about privacy, so it stands to reason that they’d keep their upcoming moves close to the vest. Weinberg’s statements likely weren’t intended that way, but it jives, man. It jives.

I don’t often make direct endorsements in this space, but if you’re not using Duck Duck Go for your online searches, you really should. I for one will take all the privacy I can get.