DuckDuckGo makes its ‘no-AI’ search engine easier to access as its traffic booms

As traffic continues to rise, there is an alternative search engine DuckDuckGo is trending towards anti-AI sentiment with the launch of new browser extensions that allow users to set up their search experience without AI, noai.duckduckgo.comas their default search engine.

Once enabled, users will be redirected to DuckDuckGo’s AI-free search page, where there will be no AI-assisted answers, no chat prompts, and fewer AI images in the search results, the company claims. The extensions are currently available for Chrome And Firefox users. Meanwhile, people who switched to the DuckDuckGo web browser already have their AI settings retained even if they clear their browsing history.

The company says the extensions are intended to help people have a consistent AI-free search experience – something that’s harder to come by these days, especially after Google announced its AI-first search engine refresh at its developer conference earlier in May.

Since then, traffic to DuckDuckGo has grown tremendously. Last week, the company noted that web visits to its non-AI search page were up nearly 30% week-over-week, and U.S. app installs were also up 18.1% week-over-week, with U.S. iOS app installs peaking at 69.9% growth week-over-week.

These trends followed the news that Google was revamping its search box, the biggest change to its search engine in more than 25 years. Instead of displaying links at the top of the page, Google will prefer to send users to AI-generated search overviews, which are increasingly interactive and able to create visualizations, charts, graphs or even mini-apps if necessary. Follow-up questions from AI Overviews will direct users to an AI mode chat experience. The traditional ’10 blue links’ that defined Google in its earlier days are more of an afterthought, appearing beneath all this AI-powered productivity.

But not everyone agrees that AI has become the standard, which is why some are switching to alternative search engines like DuckDuckGo, Kagi and others.

DuckDuckGo says traffic to its no-AI search page had tripled on Thursday, May 28, 2026 – a new high since Google’s search announcement – ​​and the numbers are still rising. The growth does not come in spurts, the company emphasizes. Instead, visits are averaging about 84% above baseline, indicating a more sustainable shift.

In addition to the new non-AI Chrome and Firefox extensions, DuckDuckGo will soon update the original DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera to also provide controls for AI search settings.

It’s worth noting that DuckDuckGo is not an anti-AI company. The company still offers its own AI chatbot with access to many popular models, and a subscription that provides access to the latest models and other tools, such as a VPN service, identity theft recovery, and personal information deletion services.