Google rebuilt Search at I/O 2026: AI agents instead of blue links, a search box that expands as you type, AI answers before the actual results. Google’s vision of ‘conversational search’ is bold. But not everyone wants it.
The numbers tell a clear story
DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search engine, has seen a massive spike in app installs since Google I/O. In the US, installs grew by an average of 18.1 percent week-over-week, peaking at 30.5 percent on May 25th. On iOS, the effect was even stronger: 33 percent growth on average, peaking at 69.9 percent.
Particularly telling: visits to DuckDuckGo’s AI-free search page (noai.duckduckgo.com) also surged — averaging 22.7 percent week-over-week growth. This page turns off all AI features completely. No AI-generated answers, no AI images, nothing. There’s clearly a growing group of users who want exactly that.
Why this is happening
Google’s mistake isn’t the AI itself — it’s that there’s no simple way to turn it off. If you just want a list of links, you have to dig through settings or switch search engines entirely. DuckDuckGo offers exactly that: a clear alternative without AI overhead.
The trend echoes the reaction to Google’s first AI Overviews in mid-2024, when flawed AI answers (glue on pizza, eating rocks) went viral. This time it’s different: it’s not about errors, it’s about a fundamental preference. Some people just want to search, not chat.
My take
I use AI search daily and find it better than traditional links in many cases. But I understand the pushback. When you’re looking for a plumber nearby or checking a recipe, you don’t need an AI summary. You need a list. Google could solve this with a simple toggle. The fact that they won’t is pushing users to the competition.
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