Duck…Duck…Go! New Search Engine Sensation is Sweeping the Nation2 min read

Each week, you can find dozens of stories about popular websites, apps, and even search engines suffering from data breaches, selling users data, or running into other issues with their user’s privacy. With all these issues, people are looking even more closely at ways to ensure better privacy in their online lives.

DuckDuckGo was founded right here in Pennsylvania in 2008, and markets itself as the search engine that actually puts your privacy first. Their mission is clearly outlined on their website as follows:

“Too many people believe that you simply can’t expect privacy on the Internet. We disagree and have made it our mission to set a new standard of trust online.”

As the Senate continues investigations into various concerns with Google, DuckDuckGo has slowly been gaining momentum. DuckDuckGo’s traffic page outlines their substantial growth since 2010, growing from 16,413,461 total queries to 9,239,676,317 in 2018. This year already they’ve surpassed 7.6 billion total queries, and will crush their record from just last year.

What Does This Mean for Your Website?

If you’re already optimizing for search engines through an ongoing search engine optimization program, there isn’t much you need to worry about. Many of the same tips and practices hold true for performing well in DuckDuckGo as they would for Google or Bing.

Focusing on your users, building quality content, and obtaining links from relevant, authoritative websites are all great strategies to help improve your performance on DuckDuckGo.

For local listings, DuckDuckGo relies heavily on information sourced from Yelp, so ensure your Yelp business listing is accurate and up to date.

Something to Keep an Eye On…

As privacy concerns in the online world continue to mount each day, DuckDuckGo is a welcome escape for those looking to maintain control of their information and data. We’ve seen this reflected in the analytics for clients across the board in a range of different industries. Is another competitor for Google and Bing just around the corner?