DuckDuckGo Browser for Mac Launches in Beta With Emphasis on Privacy and Speed

[Nadav1]

DuckDuckGo has amazing features and it’s my go to search engine. But they’re limiting their reach, and I know it’s superficial, but what is holding them back is their amateur look. Yes, the duck is cute and funny but new users see it and don’t give it a chance because it’s hard to take it seriously. Time for a rebrand.

I wish Apple would acquire them and rename it “Search” or “Siri Search”. Integrate it deeply into iOS and macOS and leave the website up to machine learn from users from other operating systems.

Right cause Google is a very serious brand name.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Hmm..

No extensions support yet = no dice

Also, I have no desire to use their password manager.
That's not a product I want integrated into a specific browser.

 

[planteater]

Does anyone know how DuckDuckGo makes money?

They sell non-personalized ads based on the current search term, not your search history or other private data.

 

[No5tromo]

My limited experience with DDG is very positive, everything is faster and more responsive, privacy issues aside the whole tracking mess is taking a toll on performance too, I hope they keep growing.

 

[iLG]

So long as it blocks aggressive YouTube ads (like Brave does) I’ll use it!

 

[Macative]

Duck Duck Go would be great if the search results were not garbage compared to Google.

 

[dlondon]

Does it block cookies and trackers even when you accept the popups that appear when you visit websites?

 

[SFjohn]

Let’s be real, unless it’s Tor Browser all these browsers are subjective and data mine at some point while surfing the web. Nice if the browser itself is privacy focused but as soon as you go to a website it’s a coin flip.

Using the most private browser in the world doesn’t mean jack if your first stop is YouTube or Facebook.

I recall that the Tor Browser has been cracked, so it might not be THE answer.

 

[Albright]

i use DDG as my main search engine now and have for the last year and a half. i did use their browser on my iphone but it actually doesn't do a good job of blocking trackers. it blocks more trackers than safari but safari is better because you can use extensions.

i used this site to test:

Test Ad Block - Toolz

Looking for an easy way to check the efficiency of your ad blocker?Toolz offers a simple and beautiful design test that allows you to quickly and easily test the performance of current ad/content blocker solution. Intuitive interface makes it easy to navigate and use, and the beautiful design...

d3ward.github.io

safari (no extension) = ~13% blocked
ddg = ~46% blocked
safari (w/ blockbear [free] extension) = ~65% blocked
safari (w/ wipr [paid] extension) = ~89% blocked

ddg on iOS doesn't seem to be affected by any extensions installed. i wish there was a way to download extensions for browsers like DDG. so that's why i will stick with Safari. also do we know what the DDG mac browser is built on? Please don't tell me chromium...

edit: they don't use chromium! they are basically using the safari engine. i wonder what they will do if they bring the browser to Windows. they should build it on Firefox.

Just checked with Safari with AdGuard and got a 100%. Nice.

It’s an adblocker. Not a particular good one in its free format. AdGuard is the way to go for all things Apple and if you use a Chromium browser either AdGuard or uBlock Origin. They are all free.

AdGuard is not free, but well worth the price, at least for me.

Does anyone know how DuckDuckGo makes money?

If you whitelist their URL in your ad blocker (as I do), you will see ads relating to your search at the top of the results. So it's basically the same as Google, with the exception that the ads are only relevant to your current search query, not a profile that has been built up about you from your history of just about everything you have ever done in a web browser as would be the case if you use Google products.

All that said, as much of a DDG fan as I am, I don't really have any interest in yet another cross-platform browser with a non-native Mac interface. I'll stick with Safari.

 

[SFjohn]

Duck Duck Go would be great if the search results were not garbage compared to Google.

I tried it long ago and found it lacking compared to google, but today it’s my primary search engine and I’m very happy with it. About once or twice a year I’ll actually google something if need be, but I’m doing that less and less.

 

[Pakaku]

I don’t understand the point of DDG anymore. You can achieve better privacy results with almost any other browser with the right plugins.

Let’s hope Brave or someone else truly lives up to their promises. Only time will tell, but it’s our job as consumers to hold them to their promises. To that end, I will never touch DDG again.

I could use any other browser with the right plugins, but the fact is I still need to use those plugins. Chrome plugins don't change Chrome's baseline, or change Google from being a scummy company. Now we have this web browser from a company which promises to put privacy as a priority, and the browser is claimed to do it fresh out of the box. I think I know which is more appealing to me...

 

[budfoot]

I was happy using DDG for about a year, even though their search results weren’t as good as Google, the privacy was important.

When they changed their stance on search results and started filtering data/search results - they lost me as a customer.

If I’m going to use a search engine that manipulates the results, I’m going to end up using the one that produces the best results.

 

[webkit]

I wish Apple would acquire them and rename it “Search” or “Siri Search”. Integrate it deeply into iOS and macOS and leave the website up to machine learn from users from other operating systems.

It would have to turn into quite a large money maker for Apple if it ever led to them ending their lucrative search partnership with Google.

 

[webkit]

Does anyone know how DuckDuckGo makes money?

Keyword-based search engine advertising and non-tracking affiliate partnerships with Amazon and eBay.

 

[zweigand]

Excited to try this one for my general browsing needs. Will likely still use Safari/Firefox for online account management and banking, etc.

 

[ipedro]

It would have to turn into quite a large money maker for Apple if it ever led to them ending their lucrative search partnership with Google.

Apple doesn’t generate profit from its services like Google does. The value of these services to Apple derives from the vertical integration of the company and control of each critical element. The resulting Apple user experience sells hardware, which is what makes Apple a trillion dollar company.

That said, as long as Google plays nice with Apple and doesn’t dictate too much of the user experience and doesn’t abuse the data it gathers from Apple users, Apple will happily take the billions Google pays them.

If Google were to push its weight around and start dictating its conditions for using its search engine, Apple would happily break the agreement and either partner with another search engine or create its own. We’ve seen this with Maps and more recently with AppleTV+ after Netflix started pushing Apple around and declining to fit in with Apple’s plans to fix the disjointed TV experience in the TV app that preceded the service.

Despite all this, Siri is becoming more and more of its own integrated search engine. If you use the pull down search in iOS, you’ll increasingly see straight up answers to your searches that don’t result in sending the user to Google or any traditional search engine. Google seems to tolerate this because they know most users still pull up a search engine in a browser. But this might change and Apple would be best to partner with or acquire DuckDuckGo for its algorithm and web crawling technology.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Apple doesn’t generate profit from its services like Google does. The value of these services to Apple derives from the vertical integration of the company and control of each critical element. The resulting Apple user experience sells hardware, which is what makes Apple a trillion dollar company.

Apple wants to though...

Apple's 5 Most Profitable Lines of Business

The profile of the company is changing dramatically as it focuses on becoming a leading global digital entertainment and services provider.

www.investopedia.com

Key takeaway #3

• Apple continues to make aggressive efforts to transform itself into one of the world's leading providers of digital services.

 

[0924487]

i use DDG as my main search engine now and have for the last year and a half. i did use their browser on my iphone but it actually doesn't do a good job of blocking trackers. it blocks more trackers than safari but safari is better because you can use extensions.

i used this site to test:

Test Ad Block - Toolz

Looking for an easy way to check the efficiency of your ad blocker?Toolz offers a simple and beautiful design test that allows you to quickly and easily test the performance of current ad/content blocker solution. Intuitive interface makes it easy to navigate and use, and the beautiful design...

d3ward.github.io

safari (no extension) = ~13% blocked
ddg = ~46% blocked
safari (w/ blockbear [free] extension) = ~65% blocked
safari (w/ wipr [paid] extension) = ~89% blocked

ddg on iOS doesn't seem to be affected by any extensions installed. i wish there was a way to download extensions for browsers like DDG. so that's why i will stick with Safari. also do we know what the DDG mac browser is built on? Please don't tell me chromium...

edit: they don't use chromium! they are basically using the safari engine. i wonder what they will do if they bring the browser to Windows. they should build it on Firefox.

Try AdGuard with all the block lists you need. It's probably going to be 99%

Also, AdGuard is free, unless you want the VPN, which you should not.

It's available on iOS too.

Edit, it came up to be 93% blocked, but the ones aren't blocked are the ones are the ones I don't want or care to be blocked, such as one Samsung tracker and one reddit tracker.

 

[zakarhino]

Excited to try this. By using the OS level web engine, DDG is obviously hoping to be in the Mac App Store.

I don't mind that it hasn't got extensions - this is obviously a browser for privacy conscious 'regular' people and I doubt that 'regular' people install extensions that aren't anything to do with privacy (I'll count myself as a 'regular' person in this regard).

Search engine ranking isn't pushing 'the truth' to the top of search results - just those that have excellent SEO.

I'm glad that DDG is actively working against those who are using SEO to push obvious falsehoods, personally.

Unfortunately this is no longer the case. During the Ukraine conflict the DDG CEO announced they will also join in on the practice of deciding what's disinformation and what isn't by reranking sources they think are misinfo (RT, etc.) instead of allowing people to do that on their own.

 

[GuillaumeB]

Anyone got a hold of the DMG ? Not liking too much the fact they force you to install their mobile app

 

[svish]

Definitely will try this out when it launches.

 

[webkit]

Apple doesn’t generate profit from its services like Google does. The value of these services to Apple derives from the vertical integration of the company and control of each critical element. The resulting Apple user experience sells hardware, which is what makes Apple a trillion dollar company.

That said, as long as Google plays nice with Apple and doesn’t dictate too much of the user experience and doesn’t abuse the data it gathers from Apple users, Apple will happily take the billions Google pays them.

If Google were to push its weight around and start dictating its conditions for using its search engine, Apple would happily break the agreement and either partner with another search engine or create its own. We’ve seen this with Maps and more recently with AppleTV+ after Netflix started pushing Apple around and declining to fit in with Apple’s plans to fix the disjointed TV experience in the TV app that preceded the service.

Despite all this, Siri is becoming more and more of its own integrated search engine. If you use the pull down search in iOS, you’ll increasingly see straight up answers to your searches that don’t result in sending the user to Google or any traditional search engine. Google seems to tolerate this because they know most users still pull up a search engine in a browser. But this might change and Apple would be best to partner with or acquire DuckDuckGo for its algorithm and web crawling technology.

Apple could partner with another search engine but none would be willing to pay nearly as much as Google. Breaking that deal (assuming the government doesn't end up doing it first) would be a significant loss of easy money for Apple.

I just don't see there being enough upside benefit for Apple to purchase DDG.

 

[verpeiler]

Already using Brave Browser for that.. plus it has an integrated adblocker.

 

[planteater]

Is it native M1?

Universal. Just installed it this morning. Version 0.22.3

 

[planteater]

Has anyone else gotten the invite and using the browser?

I like it a lot, especially given it’s a beta. Good all around interface and features. Initially I thought I’d try it while it moves toward standard release, but have now made it my default browser. They are doing a good job with it.