DuckDuckGo Usage Stats
Written by Brian Dean
DuckDuckGo is a search engine with one main USP: it doesn’t collect private user data.
Launched in September 2008, the service hit a milestone of 1 billion searches in 2013.
Since then, DuckDuckGo has continued to gain market traction.
Today, it registers an average of nearly 3 billion search queries a month.
So how big is DuckDuckGo in the search engine market?
Here’s a summary of what you’ll find out on this page:
- Key DuckDuckGo Stats
- DuckDuckGo Daily Searches
- DuckDuckGo Annual Search Queries
- Global DuckDuckGo Market Share
- Global DuckDuckGo Desktop Market Share
- Global DuckDuckGo Mobile Market Share
- DuckDuckGo US Market Share
- DuckDuckGo US Desktop Market Share
- DuckDuckGo US Mobile Market Share
- DuckDuckGo App Downloads
- How Many People the DuckDuckGo Chrome Extension?
- DuckDuckGo Funding
- DuckDuckGo Valuation
- DuckDuckGo Donations
- How Many People Work at DuckDuckGo?
Key DuckDuckGo Stats
- DuckDuckGo handles an average of 3 billion search queries a month.
- Worldwide, DuckDuckGo claims a 0.54% share of the search engine market. In the US, it holds a 1.96% share.
- DuckDuckGo is the 2nd most popular search engine on mobile devices in the US.
- 200 employees work at DuckDuckGo.
DuckDuckGo Daily Searches
On average, DuckDuckGo processes around 100 million daily searches. Daily search activity has remained relatively stable since 2021 and doesn’t show recent signs of growth.
The average number of daily queries on DuckDuckGo nearly doubled (1.92x) since January 2020.
We’ve charted average daily DuckDuckGo searches since January 2011:
| Date | DuckDuckGo Daily Searches |
|---|---|
| January 2011 | 170 thousand |
| July 2011 | 246 thousand |
| January 2012 | 630 thousand |
| July 2012 | 1.38 million |
| January 2013 | 1.64 million |
| July 2013 | 3.4 million |
| January 2014 | 4.38 million |
| July 2014 | 4.95 million |
| January 2015 | 7.14 million |
| July 2015 | 8.65 million |
| January 2016 | 10.6 million |
| July 2016 | 10.77 million |
| January 2017 | 13.47 million |
| July 2017 | 15.65 million |
| January 2018 | 21.13 million |
| July 2018 | 23.53 million |
| January 2019 | 34.37 million |
| July 2019 | 41.93 million |
| January 2020 | 51.96 million |
| February 2020 | 52.95 million |
| July 2020 | 63.27 million |
| January 2021 | 95.28 million |
| July 2021 | 92.53 million |
| January 2022 | 106.05 million |
| March 2022 | 102.7 million |
| July 2022 | 92.4 million |
| September 2022 | 94.76 million |
| November 2022 | 96.92 million |
| 2024* | 100 million |
Source: DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo Annual Search Queries
DuckDuckGo processes around 36 billion annual search queries.
From January to mid-November 2022 (the search engine hasn’t shared detailed traffic data since November 2022), DuckDuckGo processed 31.21 billion queries. To put it in perspective, DuckDuckGo had 35.3 billion searches in 2021.
Here’s a table showing the annual number of searches on DuckDuckGo since 2010:
| Year | DuckDuckGo Annual Searches |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 16.41 million |
| 2011 | 99.35 million |
| 2012 | 496.24 million |
| 2013 | 1.03 billion |
| 2014 | 1.97 billion |
| 2015 | 3.13 billion |
| 2016 | 4.09 billion |
| 2017 | 5.91 billion |
| 2018 | 9.2 billion |
| 2019 | 15.08 billion |
| 2020 | 23.65 billion |
| 2021 | 35.3 billion |
| 2022 | 31.21 billion |
| 2024 | 36 billion |
Source: DuckDuckGo
Global DuckDuckGo Market Share
Across all platforms worldwide, DuckDuckGo claims a 0.54% search engine market share. That makes it the 5th most popular search engine globally.
The DuckDuckGo market share has been consistently increasing until 2022 and has since declined.
Here’s a table showing DuckDuckGo’s worldwide market share since 2012:
| Year | DuckDuckGo Market share |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.01% |
| 2013 | 0.01% |
| 2014 | 0.04% |
| 2015 | 0.11% |
| 2016 | 0.12% |
| 2017 | 0.18% |
| 2018 | 0.29% |
| 2019 | 0.42% |
| 2020 | 0.49% |
| 2021 | 0.62% |
| 2022 | 0.65% |
| 2023 | 0.54% |
| 2024 | 0.54% |
Source: StatCounter
Global DuckDuckGo Desktop Market Share
DuckDuckGo has a 0.71% share of the worldwide desktop search market. This makes it the 4th most popular search engine among desktop users, behind Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Here’s a table showing DuckDuckGo’s share of the global desktop search market since 2012:
| Year | DuckDuckGo Market share |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.01% |
| 2013 | 0.01% |
| 2014 | 0.05% |
| 2015 | 0.13% |
| 2016 | 0.15% |
| 2017 | 0.3% |
| 2018 | 0.38% |
| 2019 | 0.5% |
| 2020 | 0.64% |
| 2021 | 0.89% |
| 2022 | 0.94% |
| 2023 | 0.72% |
| 2024 | 0.71% |
Source: StatCounter
Global DuckDuckGo Mobile Market Share
DuckDuckGo claims a 0.46% share of the worldwide mobile search engine market. It ranks 6th, behind Google, Yandex, Baidu, Bing, and Yahoo.
The mobile market has proved harder for DuckDuckGo to crack than the desktop market where DuckDuckGo holds a larger 0.71% market share.
Here’s a table showing the growth in DuckDuckGo’s mobile market share since 2014:
| Year | DuckDuckGo Market share |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 0.03% |
| 2015 | 0.05% |
| 2016 | 0.06% |
| 2017 | 0.08% |
| 2018 | 0.19% |
| 2019 | 0.33% |
| 2020 | 0.38% |
| 2021 | 0.47% |
| 2022 | 0.51% |
| 2023 | 0.46% |
| 2024 | 0.46% |
Source: StatCounter
DuckDuckGo US Market Share
In the US, DuckDuckGo claims a 1.96% market share of the search engine market across all device types. DuckDuckGo is the 4th most used search engine in the country, after Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Yahoo, the closest competitor, is only marginally ahead: it holds a 2.44% share of the US search market.
Here’s a table showing DuckDuckGo’s share of the US search engine market since 2012:
| Year | DuckDuckGo Market share |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.02% |
| 2013 | 0.05% |
| 2014 | 0.12% |
| 2015 | 0.32% |
| 2016 | 0.34% |
| 2017 | 0.52% |
| 2018 | 0.69% |
| 2019 | 1.15% |
| 2020 | 1.61% |
| 2021 | 2.42% |
| 2022 | 2.41% |
| 2023 | 1.93% |
| 2024 | 1.96% |
Source: StatCounter
DuckDuckGo US Desktop Market Share
DuckDuckGo has a 2.14% search engine market share among desktop users in the US.
DuckDuckGo only hit the milestone of a 1% market share in 2019. It has since more than doubled its share.
We’ve charted DuckDuckGo desktop US market share since 2012:
| Year | DuckDuckGo Market share |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.02% |
| 2013 | 0.06% |
| 2014 | 0.14% |
| 2015 | 0.37% |
| 2016 | 0.39% |
| 2017 | 0.62% |
| 2018 | 0.67% |
| 2019 | 1.1% |
| 2020 | 1.63% |
| 2021 | 2.53% |
| 2022 | 2.63% |
| 2023 | 2.13% |
| 2024 | 2.14% |
Source: StatCounter
DuckDuckGo US Mobile Market Share
DuckDuckGo has a 1.81% share of the US mobile search market. This makes it the second most popular mobile search engine in the US. Only Google is more popular, with a near-monopolizing 95.06% market share.
Globally, DuckDuckGo has a mobile market share of just 0.46%. However the search engine has made reasonable inroads into the US mobile market.
Here’s a table with the DuckDuckGo US mobile market share since 2013:
| Year | DuckDuckGo Market share |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 0.01% |
| 2014 | 0.08% |
| 2015 | 0.21% |
| 2016 | 0.22% |
| 2017 | 0.33% |
| 2018 | 0.59% |
| 2019 | 1.02% |
| 2020 | 1.52% |
| 2021 | 2.29% |
| 2022 | 2.22% |
| 2023 | 1.76% |
| 2024 | 1.81% |
Source: StatCounter
DuckDuckGo App Downloads
DuckDuckGo offers mobile browsing apps for both iOS and Android.
The DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser for iPhone users was downloaded 500,000 times in April 2024 alone.
The Android app receives even more downloads. It was installed 1,000,000 times in April 2024. The number of all-time downloads exceeds 50 million.
The DuckDuckGo app has excellent reviews on both the App Store and Google Play, with a cross-platform average of 4.5/5.
Sources: Play Store, Sensor Tower
How Many People Use the DuckDuckGo Chrome Extension?
DuckDuckGo has an extension available for Chrome browser users. The tool helps block hidden trackers and check website privacy grades.
The Chrome extension has more than 5 million users.
Source: Chrome Web Store
DuckDuckGo Funding
DuckDuckGo has raised $113 million across 3 funding rounds, including a secondary investment of $100 million completed at the end of 2020.
DuckDuckGo has 29 investors.
Here’s a table with DuckDuckGo funding data:
| Date | Funding Amount |
|---|---|
| October 2011 | $3 million |
| August 2018 | $10 million |
| 2020 | $100 million |
Sources: DuckDuckGo, Tracxn, Pitchbook
DuckDuckGo Valuation
As of the last funding round, DuckDuckGo was valued at an estimated $236-354 million.
Here’s a table showing DuckDuckGo’s valuation since 2011:
| Year | Valuation |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $19.82 million |
| 2018 | $74.8 million |
| 2021 | $236-354 million |
Source: CB Insights, Dealroom
DuckDuckGo Donations
DuckDuckGo makes donations to organizations related to internet privacy.
The company donated a total of $1,100,000 to 25 organizations in 2023. Its largest donation of $125,000 was allocated to each of the 3 companies: Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), The Markup, and Public Knowledge.
DuckDuckGo has donated $5,873,549 since 2011.
We’ve prepared a table showing DuckDuckGo donation information since 2011:
| Year | Amount (Number of Organizations) |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $1,909 (6) |
| 2012 | $11,640 (7) |
| 2013 | $20,000 (7) |
| 2014 | $40,000 (6) |
| 2015 | $125,000 (5) |
| 2016 | $225,000 (9) |
| 2017 | $400,000 (16) |
| 2018 | $500,000 (21) |
| 2019 | $600,000 (11) |
| 2020 | $750,000 (15) |
| 2021 | $1,000,000 (20) |
| 2022 | $1,100,000 (24) |
| 2023 | $1,100,000 (25) |
Source: DuckDuckGo
How Many People Work at DuckDuckGo?
DuckDuckGo has 200 employees, working remotely from more than 15 countries. Headcount remained unchanged over the past year.
Here’s a table showing the number of DuckDuckGo employees since March 2018:
| Date | Employees |
|---|---|
| March 2018 | 45 |
| March 2019 | 59 |
| March 2020 | 83 |
| March 2021 | 124 |
| March 2022 | 172 |
| March 2023 | 200 |
| March 2024 | 200 |
Source: DuckDuckGo
Conclusion
That’s it for my list of DuckDuckGo statistics in 2024.
The search engine continues to be a popular Google alternative among pro-privacy users.
From an almost non-existent market share years ago, DuckDuckGo is now the 2nd most popular mobile search engine in the US.
So it will be interesting to see what the future holds.
Despite the strong growth, DuckDuckGo still faces the significant barrier of Google’s worldwide search engine dominance.