DuckDuckGo Says Google I/O AI Overhaul Drives U.S. Installs Up 30.5%

Google’s I/O 2026 overhaul replaced traditional blue links with AI Overviews and a more seamless AI Mode that lets users ask follow-up questions within AI Overviews, and DuckDuckGo says that shift triggered a surge in installs and traffic.

“Following the AI-heavy Search announcements at last week’s Google I/O, DuckDuckGo says it has seen a notable and sustained surge in U”

9to5Mac

DuckDuckGo reported that U.S. installs increased an average of 18.1% week-over-week between May 20 and May 25, with growth sustained for six straight days and peaking at 30.5% on May 25.

9to5Mac

On iOS, DuckDuckGo said U.S. installs averaged 33% week-over-week and peaked at nearly 70% on May 25, while visits to noai.duckduckgo.com rose an average of 22.7% week-over-week and peaked at 27.7% on May 24.

DuckDuckGo also pointed to a pattern in which “US growth ran multiples of the international rate,” and said the numbers held and accelerated “through Memorial Day weekend, when activity typically dips.”

DuckDuckGo’s CEO Gabriel Weinberg framed the backlash as a control issue, saying, “Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out. As result, their results are getting worse, not better.”

Weinberg added that DuckDuckGo wants to “be the place that puts users in charge and allows them to decide how much or how little AI they want,” and tied the spike in people coming to DuckDuckGo “this week” to that choice.

TechCrunch

In parallel, DuckDuckGo’s chief communications and policy officer Kamyl Bazbaz argued that users are embracing AI features selectively, saying, “People just want a choice.”

TechCrunch described the reaction as sharp, quoting a woman who said she was switching to DuckDuckGo because you can “opt out of using AI,” and it also cited concerns that AI overviews “surface inaccurate responses and take away control from users who might not want to use AI.”

DuckDuckGo’s surge is being positioned by multiple outlets as a potential opening for rivals after Google pushed AI deeper into Search, with TechCrunch noting DuckDuckGo had “only around 2% of the U.S. search market” before the latest changes.

“Google just learned what happens when you force-feed users AI they didn't ask for”

The Tech Buzz

WinBuzzer said Google’s redesign gave competitors “a clearer pitch” for users who want privacy, direct links, or less intrusive AI, and it described how Google and Bing are pushing mainstream search toward AI-assisted answers while smaller rivals sell different bargains.

WinBuzzer also reported that Google’s AI Mode had “already surpassed 1 billion monthly users,” and it said Google still handled “90.01% of worldwide search traffic in March 2026,” leaving limited room for classic search rivals.

Even so, TechCrunch added that some of the data is backed up by Apptopia, which found a “29% increase in average daily downloads in the U.S.” and a “12% increase globally” over the same period, while DuckDuckGo said it continued to gain users over Memorial Day weekend.