How does DuckDuckGo make money? We explain the system

DuckDuckGo boasts of allowing secure web search without Big Data mechanisms. But how does the search engine actually make money? Our guide explains DuckDuckGo's system.

DuckDuckGo also serves ads, but not personalized ones.

After Google, Bing and Yahoo!, DuckDuckGo is already the 4th most used search engine in Germany.

How does DuckDuckGo earn money?

The answer is relatively simple:

• In fact, DuckDuckGo also earns money mainly from ads. In addition, there is income from affiliate links.
• The big difference to Google and Co. is, however, that DuckDuckGo does not personalize the advertising. This is namely not possible at all, since DuckDuckGo no personal data collected and exploited.
• Instead, the advertising is simply displayed to match the search term. The banners are thus the same for all users (depending on the search).

With this methodology, DuckDuckGo does not optimize revenue. In return, users are allowed to search really safe and anonymous. Ausreichend scheinen die Umsätze trotzdem zu sein, denn schon seit 2014 arbeitet DuckDuckGo im profitablen Bereich.