Google Chrome adds the privacy-first DuckDuckGo as a default option

Google has made a curious addition to its Chrome browser. 

With the release of Chrome 73, the browser has added the pro-privacy DuckDuckGo to its suite of default search engines, alongside Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

As per TechCrunch, the addition was spotted in the changes for Chrome, and the option will be available in 60 markets around the globe. 

Launched in 2008, DuckDuckGo has been lauded for its privacy focus, hitting 30 million daily searches last October. The search engine doesn’t track users, nor does it store their personal information.

“We’re glad that Google has finally recognized the importance of offering consumers a private search option in Chrome,” DuckDuckGo wrote in a tweet.

Another privacy-first search engine, Qwant, was added as a default option, but only in the French market.

To change your search engine preferences, you just need to open Settings on Chrome, and select DuckDuckGo next to the “Search engine used in the address bar” option.

Yes, we know, you could’ve manually added DuckDuckGo as a search engine in Chrome already, but as tech giants like Google and Microsoft know well, defaults help dominate market share, allowing them to decide what you see on the internet.

Google has been under the spotlight for its search engine dominance in recent years, of which it retains 90 percent of market share.