Know All About How Does DuckDuckGo Make Money?
RackUp
What is DuckDuckGo:
DuckDuckGo is a search engine like Google but it maintains privacy by not tracking the users and violating their privacy.
DuckDuckGo aims to emphasize the privacy of user Search avoiding the filter bubble of personalized search results.
Need of DuckDuckGo:
So the con here is that privacy is being sacrificed in this case so here comes a need for such a search engine which would provide privacy as well as unbiased search results.
How Does DuckDuckGo Make Money:
How does DuckDuckGo Make Money? It makes money by two simple methods:
1- affiliated marketing
2- untracked advertisement
Affiliated marketing:
Affiliate revenue comes from Amazon or eBay affiliate programs, if a user buys something from Amazon or any other website affiliated with DuckDuckGo they will pay a commission to DuckDuckGo for this.
Untracked advertisement
The advertisement is shown as per the keywords typed in the search bar, not the actual person data profile involved, so a user types a search keyword for eg a car and the car advertisement would be displayed and if you click them the ad company will pay DuckDuckGo for this.
Advertising Without Tracking:
It is a myth that users get a track which helps in better popping up of advertisements hence making money from it but here it’s a threat to a person’s privacy. In DuckDuckGo user enters a keyword and according to the keywords written the search would be made and advertisement would be shown based on the keyword, not the person.
For eg, if I made so many searches of the wedding dress and even if I’m searching something else on the side of the top or whatever the place the wedding dresses start appearing even if I don’t want it so it’s a search where personalized data is involved and here where the value proposition of Google fails and the business of DuckDuckGo start.
7 reasons Why Go For DuckDuckGo :
1- Google tracks you we don’t:
When you search, you share your secrets with Google maybe about your health, your depression, your intimate secrets which you not nobody wants it to be tracked but Google does it. Google tracks your searches then they are mined and built up in a data profile and according to it, the ads would appear even you have searched for it or not.
For eg, if you search a keyword car the car’s advertisements started to appear even if you don’t search that keyword it’s good that Google has built an algorithm that does that but it’s a huge threat to privacy even.
Duck DuckDuckGo does not track you, you search without having the feel of being observed or tracked, it maintains the privacy of the user and made it anonymous.
2-Unbiased results:
A user wants unbiased search results but you don’t get it, Google shows you which you are likely to click on based on the data they have mined tracking you.
3- DuckDuckGo listen:
If getting locked out of the Gmail account, it says sorry we can’t help you unless you are some journalist or so, that Google can help but DuckDuckGo listen if any unfortunate happens to you we are there to help you out and it’s easy to reach us.
4- Ecosystem trap:
We don’t trap you in our ecosystem but helps you to get the best search results you want
5- We have !bangs:
We have short keywords on typing those you can directly access the particular website for eg for Wikipedia it is !w and you can easily access it.
6- Search without fear:
When a user searches and has felt that they are being tracked it gives them chill effects but we are there to escape that sensation making you feel secure and helping control privacy.
7- search results aren’t loaded with ads:
The search results ain’t loaded with ads. This is quite irritating sometimes, you want to see what you’ve searched for and that’s it so we provide you with this spectacular search.
DuckDuckGo Business Model:
The visual representation of the DuckDuckGo model would be easier to understand than the written but let’s make it simple to be easily understandable.
A user uses Google as a search engine but the user also want privacy so a user left Google and opt DuckDuckGo search engine for further searches and here the privacy is maintained of the user, DuckDuckGo makes money by untracked advertising and affiliate marketing, it means now the user identity would be anonymous completely and the marketing websites won’t exchange an identity with the DuckDuckGo hence making it completely personalized.
Is the DuckDuckGo Model Sustainable?
DuckDuckGo was profitable according to the study in 2015, it makes 1 million dollar revenue whereas it was a fraction of Google’s revenue as mentioned in the website. The question if it would be sustainable or not? This depends on the number of FourWeekMBA users opting for it for daily use, if the number of searches increases per user it would help in making good revenue. If the user’s concerns towards privacy would grow more than half of the world’s population would shift to DuckDuckGo. Since Google is a giant company having billions of users so it is obvious that Google’s revenue would be way much greater than DuckDuckGo.
Would DuckDuckGo Give Data to the Police?
DuckDuckGo founder said :
“ We don’t have any data so we have nothing to give to them.”
So the police don’t come knocking for the data since it won’t have any records of data to be used for the investigation.
Conclusion:
DuckDuckGo has made a business model where the value of the proposition of Google fails. Google targets personalized data mined advertisements and it’s a strength which helps Google in making a lot of money as businesses pay Google for advertising their ads.
DuckDuckGo has made a value proposition based on privacy. So if the users are more concerned about their privacy can go for DuckDuckGo. The main question which comes in our mind is would DuckDuckGo be able to sustain in the environment dominated by Google? The answer to it is DuckDuckGo should find ways to increase its revenue generation which would help it further to grow in the SEO world.
Gabriel Winberg the founder of DuckDuckGo stated that :
“It fits perfectly in the case of the privacy policy and we protect your search history even from ourselves.”
DuckDuckGo has promised not to use the cookies for tracking and even the IP address is hidden. In Google when a person visits a website your computer automatically sends your IP address which can be easily used to track you but DuckDuckGo founder termed it as search leakage and in DuckDuckGo if you visit any site searching your data wouldn’t be shared hence making you escape from the fear of chill effect.