Google Quietly Adds Pro-Privacy DuckDuckGo as a Default Search Engine Option in 60 Markets

Google recently released version 73 of its Chrome browser. While Dark Mode for macOS caught everyone’s attention and major news time, Google also quietly updated the list of default search engines its browser offers in different markets. The list now includes pro-privacy search engine options like the popular DuckDuckGo.

The change comes at a time when tech giants are facing increased scrutiny by watchdogs over antitrust practices and privacy mishaps. Several people have openly called for breaking up major companies like Google and Facebook to help smaller innovators and increase competition in the industry.

Google introduces some positive changes with Chrome 73

If you have installed Chrome 73, you can now set DuckDuckGo as your default search engine. The option is available in the following ~60 countries.

Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Bolivia, Brazil, Belize, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Germany, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, India, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Moldova, Macedonia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Paraguay, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Switzerland, U.K., Uruguay, U.S. and Venezuela.

In response to this change, DuckDuckGo founder Gabe Weinberg told the folks at TechCrunch that the company is glad that “Google has recognized the importance of offering consumers a private search option.”

Qwant is another pro-privacy search engine that Google has added as an option in France, its home market. Its co-founder Eric Leandri said “thank you” to Google, but added that the company still recommends its users to opt for Mozilla Firefox or Brave browsers over Google’s Chrome.

How to set DuckDuckGo as your default search engine in Chrome

Here’s how you can switch to pro-privacy DuckDuckGo as your default search engine:

Make sure you have the latest Chrome 73 installed by clicking on Chrome > About Google Chrome
- Even if you didn’t have the latest version installed, clicking on About Google Chrome will force the browser to update to the latest version.
Head over to the Settings menu: click on the three dots > Settings
Either scroll down until you see Search engine OR click on the hamburger menu on the left side > click on Search engine
Use the drop down menu next to Search engine used in the address bar to select from the tiny list of options, which should show DuckDuckGo if you are using Chrome in any of the above markets.
Now, click on Manage search engines > click on three dots next to DuckDuckGo and click on Make default