DuckDuckGo, a privacy first search engine is seeing a sharp rise in app installs as frustration grows over Google’s decision to push artificial intelligence deeper into search results, raising fresh concerns about user choice, accuracy and the future of the open web.

The privacy-focused search engine said U.S. app installs rose by an average of 18.1% week-on-week between May 20 and May 25, compared with the previous May 13 to May 18 period.

The increase continued for six consecutive days and peaked at 30.5% on May 25.

On iOS, the shift was even more pronounced. DuckDuckGo said week-on-week install growth averaged 33%, with downloads peaking at 69.9%.

The jump follows Google’s latest search announcements at I/O, its annual developer conference, where the company outlined plans to turn the traditional search box into a more conversational engine.

Instead of simply returning links, Google says search would expand for longer queries, anticipate user intent, autocomplete searches and answer questions directly through AI Overviews.

Google also announced a more seamless AI Mode, allowing users to ask follow-up questions inside AI Overviews.

While a Google spokesperson noted that AI Overviews have existed for two years and that AI Mode is not the default, the reaction from parts of the web has been blunt.

Critics argue the changes could further weaken the open web by reducing the need for users to click through to publishers, businesses and independent websites.

Others have raised concerns about accuracy, warning that AI-generated summaries can surface wrong or misleading answers while taking control away from users who may not want AI inserted into basic searches.

The problem is not just philosophical. For many users, the complaint is simpler: search is becoming more complicated than it needs to be.

Even a basic query can now trigger an AI-generated response before the user reaches the familiar list of links. Just try to Google the word “disregard.”

DuckDuckGo, long positioned as the privacy-first alternative to Google, appears to be benefiting from that frustration. The company has struggled for years to make a serious dent in Google’s dominance and accounts for only around 2% of the U.S. search market.

Its chief executive, Gabriel Weinberg, has previously argued that Google’s default search deals have made it harder for rivals to compete.

During Google’s search antitrust trial in 2023, Weinberg testified that Google’s exclusive default search contracts harmed DuckDuckGo’s ability to pitch itself as the default search engine on other browsers.

This week, he connected the recent growth in DuckDuckGo installs directly to Google’s AI search push.

“Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out,” Weinberg said Tuesday in a statement, referring to Google’s Search overhaul,”

“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.”

DuckDuckGo said visits to its AI-free search page, noai.duckduckgo.com, also climbed during the same period. The page averaged 22.7% week-on-week growth and peaked at 27.7% on May 24.

The page turns off every AI feature by default, including AI-assisted answers and AI-generated images.

That is a clear point of difference from Google, where AI Overviews remain part of the default search experience.

A spokesperson pointed out that Google offers a web filter on Search for users who only want to see a list of blue links, but the default is still AI Overviews and users cannot turn that off.

DuckDuckGo said the trend has been strongest in the U.S. and that it continued to gain users over the Memorial Day weekend, a period when it would usually expect traffic to soften.

Some third-party data supports the company’s figures. App analytics company Apptopia found a 29% increase in average daily DuckDuckGo downloads in the U.S. over the same period, along with a 12% increase globally.

The backlash does not mean users are rejecting AI altogether. DuckDuckGo has its own AI product, Duck.ai, which offers access to several models without requiring an account.

The service includes Anthropic’s Claude 4.5 Haiku, Meta’s Llama 4 Scout, Mistral’s Small 3 24B and OpenAI’s GPT-5 mini.

DuckDuckGo says chats are private because it strips the user’s IP address before requests reach model providers, deletes conversations within 30 days and prevents chats from being used for training.

That distinction may prove important. The fight is not simply between AI and no AI. It is increasingly about who controls the search experience, whether AI is optional, and whether users still have a direct path to the web beyond the answer box.

For Google, AI search is being sold as the next logical step in finding information online. For critics, it looks more like a forced redesign of the internet’s front door.

DuckDuckGo’s sudden lift in installs suggests a growing surge in search engine users looking for the exit.