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Google, Which Owns Duck.com, Confuses Users Searching For Its Rival DuckDuckGo and Redirects Them Back To Google (twitter.com)

Posted by msmash on from the don't-be-evil dept.

Commenting on the record $5 billion fine on Google by the European Commission, privacy focused search engine DuckDuckGo said this week it welcomes the decision as it has "felt [Google's] effects first hand for many years and has led directly to us having less market share on Android vs iOS and in general mobile vs desktop." The company said: Up until just last year, it was impossible to add DuckDuckGo to Chrome on Android, and it is still impossible on Chrome on iOS. We are also not included in the default list of search options like we are in Safari, even though we are among the top search engines in many countries. The Google search widget is featured prominently on most Android builds and is impossible to change the search provider. For a long time it was also impossible to even remove this widget without installing a launcher that effectively changed the whole way the OS works. Their anti-competitive search behavior isn't limited to Android. Every time we update our Chrome browser extension, all of our users are faced with an official-looking dialogue asking them if they'd like to revert their search settings and disable the entire extension. Google also owns http://duck.com and points it directly at Google search, which consistently confuses DuckDuckGo users. "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is google," wrote security researcher Mikko Hypponen, summing up the story.

Update: Google makes amends.

5 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. hmm by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The other stuff sure. Amen.

    But I, for one, would not for any reason think that I would find "Duck Duck Go" at duck.com ....

    1. Re:hmm by jeffasselin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don’t think people do.

      But maybe they search for “duck” in the browser’s address bar expecting it to find DuckDuckGo instead it adds .com and sends them to duck.com which redirects to Google. A bit weird but I can see the issue. And why would Google have bought duck.com for ANY other reason than to screw with DuckDuckGo?

      --
      If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
  2. "Don't be evil", LOL by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah yeah I know: Google dropped that motto a while back, but this sounds like something Microsoft would do.

  3. Re: Anti-competitive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Thatâ(TM)s the definition of anti-competitive behavior. Competitiveness means succeeding on your own merits, not because you control a completely unrelated business segment.

  4. Partly their own fault by Solandri · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Don't get me wrong. I think Google should fry if they're blocking competing search engines from their browser. But:

    Google also owns duck.com and points it directly at Google search, which consistently confuses DuckDuckGo users.

    They wouldn't be so easily confused if the DuckDuckGo landing page didn't look nearly identical to Google's landing page. Contrast to Bing, Yahoo, Ask, Startpage, Qwant, Yandex (#1 in Russia), Naver (#1 in South Korea). The only other major search engine which makes the same mistake of copying Google too closely is Baidu (#1 in China).