Some users may be giving Google's AI search the bird, and DuckDuckGo is benefiting

DuckDuckGo reported a surge in US app installs, averaging 20.8% weekly growth in the seven days after Google announced its largest Search overhaul at its I/O conference on May 19. The privacy-focused search engine saw installs peak at 37.6% on May 26, while iOS installs in the US climbed an average of 33% during the same period, reaching nearly 70% growth on May 25. The spike suggests some users are seeking alternatives to Google's deeper integration of AI features into its core search experience.

DuckDuckGo https://www.businessinsider.com/reference/what-is-duckduckgo has seen usage surge after Google https://www.businessinsider.com/why-google-delayed-gemini-3-5-pro-ai-model-2026-5 unveiled its biggest Search overhaul in decades, suggesting some users may be looking for alternatives as the internet giant pushes deeper into AI. DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine, said US installs rose an average of 20.8% week over week in the seven days after Google's May 19 announcements at its I/O conference. Growth peaked at 37.6% on May 26, according to DuckDuckGo. On iOS in the US, installs climbed an average of 33% during the same period, reaching nearly 70% growth on May 25. DuckDuckGo also said visits to its noai.duckduckgo.com page, where AI features are disabled by default, rose 22.7% on average week-over-week. The timing is notable, though it's unclear whether Google's changes directly caused the increase. At I/O, Google announced a sweeping redesign of Search https://www.businessinsider.com/google-intelligent-search-box-ai-mode-features-information-agents-io-2026-5 that brings more AI features into the core search experience. The company is integrating capabilities from AI Mode https://www.businessinsider.com/google-io-2026-5-biggest-takeaways-ai-advances-2026-5 directly into the main search box, allowing users to ask longer, conversational questions and upload images, videos, files, and browser tabs. Google is also adding AI-generated suggestions and follow-up conversations directly within Search. DuckDuckGo executives argued that some users are pushing back against that approach. "Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out," DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg said in a statement. "We want to be the place that puts users in charge and allows them to decide how much or how little AI they want." A usage spike this steep is pretty unprecedented in recent memory, according to DuckDuckGo spokesperson Kamyl Bazbaz. "There hasn't been a news event that created this kind of jump in a long time," Bazbaz told Business Insider. "I would have remembered one." Still, the data is limited to DuckDuckGo's internal figures, and broader shifts in search behavior remain difficult to measure. Sign up for BI's Tech Memo newsletter here https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/tech-memo . Reach out to me via email at abarr@businessinsider.com mailto:abarr@businessinsider.com .