DuckDuckGo is rolling out access to a new internet browser to compete with popular big tech products, such as Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
DuckDuckGo is known for its search engine that aims to challenge Google and is marketed as a privacy-focused alternative to larger companies’ products.
The company’s senior director for product, Beah Burger-Lenehan, said the new “DuckDuckGo for Mac” service is not simply a replacement for “Incognito mode,” which is Google’s private browsing tool available in Chrome.
“Our privacy feed lets you see who we caught trying to track you, lets you clear any stored data from websites you recently visited, and helps you easily navigate back to recent pages privately,” Ms. Burger-Lenehan said on the company’s blog. “Facebook tries to get around tracker blockers by putting trackers in embedded content. When this happens, we block this content from loading by default, while still letting you opt-in to view it if desired.”
People wanting to switch from a big tech browser to DuckDuckGo will need to join a private waitlist to use the service on Apple’s desktop operating system. A version of the browser for Microsoft’s operating system is under development.
Ms. Burger-Lenehan said Tuesday the company started picking people off its waitlist this week to use the new test browser for Mac and a version for Windows is forthcoming. People may join the waitlist through DuckDuckGo’s mobile app.
The search engine company has reported a surge in user activity on its platform that coincided with the onset of COVID restrictions that pushed more people online and the 2020 election that resulted in disaffected voters looking for alternatives to big tech products.
For example, DuckDuckGo’s website shows nearly 70 million more daily queries happening on average this week than three years ago. The company’s website said 29.1 million queries were made on April 13, 2019, and nearly 98.7 million queries were recorded for Monday.
Search volume data from Google is not publicly available, but software company HubSpot estimated last year that Google processes 63,000 searches every second, or approximately 5.6 billion per day.
As part of its strategy to compete with the market’s dominant players, DuckDuckGo has waded into policy efforts in Washington to crack down on its big tech opponents.
Earlier this year, DuckDuckGo signed a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee supporting the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which would limit large tech companies from preferencing their own products. The bill advanced through the committee but has not received final consideration by the full Senate.
A DuckDuckGo official also appeared at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to push lawmakers to ban surveillance advertising.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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