this post was submitted on 27 May 2026
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DuckDuckGo installs are up 30% as users reject being ‘force-fed’ Google’s AI Search (techcrunch.com)
submitted 23 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/technology@lemmy.world
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EDIIT :

Apparently, there is an issue with the warning request to disable the ad blocker

I use Fennec F-Droid and Cromite, and I don't see this issue.

to get around the adblocker warning, use this link.

https://unwall.app/techcrunch.com/2026/05/26/duckduckgo-installs-are-up-30-as-users-reject-being-force-fed-googles-ai-search/

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[–] manuremy@sopuli.xyz 12 points 14 hours ago (5 children)

It's not even about disabling it, DDG keeps turning it back on.. I live in a constant battle.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 7 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

are you sure it's not resetting because of your privacy settings

[–] whaleross@lemmy.world 9 points 12 hours ago

Clearing cookies will reset it because there is no way of ddg to know.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 8 points 14 hours ago

Which is crazy as they also made a big deal about how many users don't want an AI result and how they are credibly the choice for those people.

I get offering the feature, but insisting upon it while also bragging about how they cater to the majority of respondents that didn't like it is bizarre..

Google at least is consistent, they just plainly act as of the people who dislike it don't exist.

[–] optimisticturtle@lemmy.world 5 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

I just tested it. It stores a cookie when you disable duck.ai and Search Assist but no cookie corresponds to them being enabled. Perhaps you might have cleared cookies?

[–] manuremy@sopuli.xyz 2 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

Yeah, I'm aware this is the reason. Which fucking sucks because I need to remember turn them back off every single time I happen to need clear cookies.. But that's probably their plan.

[–] LucidNightmare@anarchist.nexus 3 points 9 hours ago

I have Firefox and have it set up to erase all history and cookies. I just like a clean and cleared browser when I get on. To prevent myself from having to log in to every website I might need to use that day, I took all of my websites I go to regularly, and made a container for them in Firefox Containers. Then, I go into Firefox settings and paste the websites into the Exceptions under Browsing data.

This has worked for me for years, so I hope you try it out and it works for you too! :-]

[–] starblursd@lemmy.zip 2 points 12 hours ago

You could set up an exception for that website to not have its cookies cleared when you wipe the rest

[–] sliverr828@lemmy.zip 3 points 13 hours ago

Are you suuuuuuurrrreeeeeeeee you don’t want it turned back on?

[–] arj@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)
[–] manuremy@sopuli.xyz 0 points 9 hours ago

That works as the starter page, but can't be set as the custom search engine.. Only the real DDG can be set as that.