DuckDuckGo is a search engine which launched in 2008 and its name is inspired by the kids’ game “Duck Duck Goose”. By 2011 the site had gained 1.5 million visitors per day and in 2014, the site was redesigned and started stirring tremendous attention from the media and among consumers, especially privacy activists. What sets DuckDuckGo apart from other search engines such as the giant Google, is its concern for the privacy of its users. DuckDuckGo is predicted to be bringing a greater impact to how SEO works in the coming years. In Apple’s recent iOS 8 release, users have the option to pick DuckDuckGo as their preferred search engine.
But what would the growing use of DuckDuckGo imply for SEO? DuckDuckGo is picky about the content that they prioritize for top pages display. They value clean and targeted content. They also value sites that link to crowdsourced pages like Wikipedia for example. Using geotargeted keywords, especially if you are a local business will help you to gain a good position in search results. Another factor to consider is to be optimized for mobile. With its inclusion in iOS 8, new DuckDuckGo users would most probably browse from mobile devices.
DuckDuckGo is not yet ready to be a full-fledge rival to Google but it can be a good strategic move to keep the search engine in mind when devising SEO strategies, especially with its inclusion in iOS 8.