DuckDuckGo sees massive traffic surge for 'No AI' search option
- By Kumail Shah -
- May 30, 2026
Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has experienced a significant increase in demand for its “No AI” search option following Google’s May 19th I/O announcements.
Google introduced a new AI-enhanced “intelligent” search box featuring AI suggestions as an upgrade to autocomplete, support for follow-up questions, expanded Personal Intelligence connecting Gmail and Google Photos, and Search agents.
DuckDuckGo informed MacRumors that visits to its No AI search page more than tripled after Google’s announcement, peaking at three times the usual traffic on May 28th and continuing to rise.
Since May 19, visits have consistently been around 84% above baseline. In response to this demand, DuckDuckGo is actively promoting new extensions for Chrome and Firefox that set No AI search as the default.
The No AI search variant offers no AI-assisted answers or chat interface and shows fewer AI-generated images. While DuckDuckGo can be the default search engine on Apple devices, it cannot set the specific No AI page as the default.
The company has its own AI tools, but they are disabled for users choosing the No AI option. Plans are underway to add No AI search settings to its existing extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera soon.
Besides DuckDuckGo, other privacy-oriented search engines also minimize AI results, such as Kagi, which charges $5 per month for limited searches and $10 per month for unlimited searches. As a paid service, Kagi does not display ads or gather and sell user data.