Inside DuckDuckGo
Inside DuckDuckGo is a behind-the-scenes podcast hosted by the DuckDuckGo team. It offers insights into product development, engineering, leadership, and artificial intelligence. The show provides a look at how the privacy-focused search company builds its products and navigates the tech industry. It is distributed via Substack and aimed at an audience interested in tech and privacy.
Episodes
Duck Tales: The performance review process at DuckDuckGo (Ep.47)
In this episode, Jeffrey (Operations) and Anne (People Ops) discuss how performance reviews work in a distributed leadership model, and how the process has scaled as we’ve grown. If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ideas, email us at podcast@duckduckgo.com.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are only lightly edited and may contain minor inaccuracies or tran
Duck Tales: The team and process behind DuckDuckGo’s customer support (Ep.46)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and John (Support) discuss our customer support process, why we read all tickets (good or bad), and how we actually use them to improve all aspects of the user experience.If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ideas, email us at podcast@duckduckgo.com.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are only lightly edited and
Duck Tales: How we use AI at DuckDuckGo while staying true to our principles (Ep.45)
In this episode, Marc (Engineering) and Zach (Data Science) discuss how we use AI internally: our most common uses, how we use it privately, and why our principles matter more when using AI, not less. If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ideas, email us at podcast@duckduckgo.com.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are only lightly edited and may contain mino
Duck Tales: DuckDuckGo will find and remove your personal information — like your name and email — from sites that store and sell it (Ep.44)
In this episode, Konrad (Engineering) and Shilpa (Engineering) discuss Personal Information Removal: what is a data broker, how we remove your records without ever sending your data to our servers, and the ‘whack-a-mole’ of constantly changing data broker sites. If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ideas, email us at podcast@duckduckgo.com.Learn more about the DuckDuckGo Subscription her
Duck Tales: The 3Ds of DuckDuckGo. Delight, discovery, and dependability (Ep.43)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Beah (Chief Product Officer) discuss our focus on delight, discovery, and dependability (the 3Ds), what they are, and how they shape our day-to-day work. If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ideas, email us at podcast@duckduckgo.com.Show notes: Listen to our episode on Hack Days here. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below)
Duck Tales: 32% of AI users tell AI things they've kept from other people. Our new study on AI's privacy problem (Ep.42)
In this episode, Zac (SVP, User Insights) and Mario (Marketing) discuss our study on the AI privacy problem: from stats and surprises, to AI hot takes, and how DuckDuckGo can help. Show notes: Learn more about the study and our findings hereIf you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ideas, email us at podcast@duckduckgo.com.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are
Duck Tales: The DuckDuckGo Subscription Pro-tier — private AI for AI power users (Ep.41)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Chris (Partnerships) discuss the DuckDuckGo Subscription: the core protections, private AI, and how the new Pro-tier serves AI power users. If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ideas, email us at podcast@duckduckgo.com.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or tran
Duck Tales: How we're making it easier to use Duck.ai, our private AI chat. (Ep.40)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Mihai (Design) discuss how the Duck.ai team prioritizes what to build, how we use research and user feedback, and a demo of recent UX updates. If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ideas, email us at podcast@duckduckgo.com.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or t
Duck Tales: How we use mental models and operational defaults to improve decision making (Ep.39)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Marc (VP, Engineering) discuss how we create, communicate, and challenge operational defaults to make better decisions at speed. If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ideas, email us at podcast@duckduckgo.com.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription e
Duck Tales: Our first major Duck.ai ad, and how we develop creative at DuckDuckGo (Ep.38)
In this episode, Cristina (CMO) and Zack (Senior Director, Marketing) discuss our new Duck.ai ad, how we develop, test, and measure creative and campaigns, and why we do a lot of the work in-house.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy
Duck Tales: The DuckDuckGo browser now blocks ads on YouTube videos, so you can watch without interruption (Ep.37)
In this episode, Peter (Product) and Dave (Privacy) discuss YouTube Ad Blocking, why we built it, how it works, and how it differs from Duck Player. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or ep
Duck Tales: AI in the DuckDuckGo browser — private, useful & optional (Ep.36)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Aitor (Engineering) discuss AI in the DuckDuckGo browser, including how we’re integrating Duck.ai, our private AI chat. Plus, why it’s important we make AI not just easy to access, but easy to dial down or turn off entirely. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcri
Duck Tales: AI optionality, and why DuckDuckGo installs are up ~40% since Google swapped search for AI mode (Ep.35)
In this episode, Cristina (Chief Marketing Officer) and Kamyl (Chief Comms & Public Affairs Officer) discuss the AI announcements of Google I/O, our response, and how our long-term stance on AI optionality led to rapid and record growth. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is ope
Duck Tales: Voice-mode in Duck.ai. The private, hands-free way to chat with popular AIs (Ep.34)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Fran (Engineering) discuss voice-mode in Duck.ai, common use cases, and how it’s private. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.If you have feedback on Duck Tales, or episode ide
Duck Tales: How we've made it easier to generate images privately in Duck.ai (Ep.33)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Matej (Engineering) discuss the evolution of image generation in Duck.ai, UX improvements, and the challenge of balancing output quality and speed. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy
Duck Tales: Dax (our mascot) is coming to the physical world, on shoes, shirts, and security keys (Ep.32).
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Dan (Brand Strategy) discuss our first set of branded collaborations, where the idea came from, and why people would rep Dax in public. Show notes: Shop the collaborations here Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. Thi
Duck Tales: The role of user research, A/B testing, and "dogfooding" at DuckDuckGo (Ep.31)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Zac (SVP, Insights) discuss our approach to user research, how we run robust research while respecting user privacy, and why moving quickly matters.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy
Duck Tales: How DuckDuckGo provides useful “near me” search results, while keeping your location private.
In this episode, Greg and John (Search) discuss local search results, and how we help you find local cafes, restaurants, and business, without knowing your precise location. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Greg: Hello and
Duck Tales: How DuckDuckGo uses data science to measure marketing effectiveness, privately (Ep.29)
In this episode, Cristina (CMO) and Baran (Data Science) discuss our privacy-first approach to marketing measurement, the role of incrementality, and how the team operates day to day.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Cristin
Duck Tales: The fire button, a delightful way to delete your browsing data (Ep.28)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Sveta (Design) discuss the fire button, the recent redesign, and how it improves both user privacy and delight. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Beah: Hello, welcome to Duck
Duck Tales: How we privately sync bookmarks, passwords & AI chats across your devices, without you needing an account (Ep.27)
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Emanuele (Engineering) discuss Sync — which lets you have consistent bookmarks, passwords, and AI chats across devices — how it’s unique from a privacy perspective, and what’s coming next.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is ope
Duck Tales: How we build, design, and trigger instant answers on DuckDuckGo search (Ep.26)
In this episode, Greg (Product) and Karl (Design Engineering) discuss how we build, design and decide when to show Instant Answers. Plus, how we’re balancing instant answers with optional AI generated answers. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is t
Duck Tales: Hack Days at DuckDuckGo — why we do them, and the role of trust (Ep.25)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Julia (People Operations) discuss hack days (our version of a hackathon), how we encourage participation, and some of the product changes it’s led to. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.
Duck Tales: DuckDuckGo browser updates — custom themes and password manager (Ep.24)
In this episode, Peter (Product), Stephen (Design) and Balint (Windows) discuss updates to our browsers, from the most popular custom themes, to why over 40% of our iOS users have made DuckDuckGo their system-wide password manager. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated
Duck Tales: Why DuckDuckGo is giving users a choice about if and how they use AI (Ep.23)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Zac (SVP, Insights) discuss AI adoption, common user concerns, and why we’re building AI that users can control and customize. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Gabriel: Hello, welcome
Duck Tales: Why DuckDuckGo is building its own web search index (Ep.22)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Caine (CTO, first employee) discuss the history of our search engine, why now is the right time to build a full web search index, and how our scale makes us uniquely positioned to ship, learn and iterate quickly. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This
Duck Tales: Browser onboarding — why first impressions matter, user education, and the role of personality (Ep.21)
This episode, Mary (Associate VP, Brand) Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Bobby (Director, Product) discuss how DuckDuckGo’s browser onboarding was designed, why it matters for a privacy browser, and how Dax’s personality helps users feel confident in their protections.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription
Duck Tales: How we work at DuckDuckGo — remote-first, with memorable meetups (Ep20).
In this episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and John (People Ops) discuss aynchronous working, no meeting days, and the role of face to face meetups. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Beah: Hello, and welcome to DuckTales,
Duck Tales: Why DuckDuckGo acquired Removaly to expand its privacy offering (Ep.19)
In this episode, Cristina (CMO) and John (Marketing, previously co-founder of Removaly) discuss the acquisition process, adjusting to DuckDuckGo culture, and how Removaly has informed our customer service and product strategy. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Su
Duck Tales: Duck Sans — designing a typeface that balances functionality and brand (ep.18)
In this episode, Mary (Senior Director, Brand), and Nirzar (AI Design Lead) discuss why we developed a new typeface, how we implemented it, and its role in communicating our personality. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Mar
Duck Tales: How DuckDuckGo blocks trackers on third-party websites (Ep.17)
This episode, Beah (Chief Product Officer) and Dave (Privacy team) discuss our tracker blocklist, how it works, and why most of it is open source. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) have been lightly edited for clarity. However, they may still contain some minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy poli
Duck Tales: Yes AI or No AI? The thinking behind DuckDuckGo’s public AI vote (Ep.16)
Curious how people voted? Head to VoteYesOrNoAI.com Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Kamyl: Hello and welcome to DuckTales where we go behind the scenes at DuckDuckGo and discuss the stories, technology and people that help
Duck Tales: Duck Player — a free, private way to watch YouTube videos, with fewer ads & no distractions (Ep.15)
In this episode, Beah (SVP, Product) and Omid (Product) discuss Duck Player, how it’s private, and how to use it. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Show notes: Duck Player is available in all DuckDuckGo browsers. When you cl
Duck Tales: Building useful, private, optional AI directly into search, with Search Assist (Ep.14)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Ewa (Product) discuss Search Assist, why we’re so focused on letting users control their experience, and future improvements. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Show notes: Learn more ab
Duck Tales: DuckDuckGo donations — why we’ve donated $8M+ to organizations that align with our vision (Episode 13)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Joe (Policy team) discuss why we donate, the types of organizations we donate to, and some examples of impact. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Show notes: See our full list of donatio
Duck Tales: Hiring at DuckDuckGo, and why we have a 95% employee retention rate (Episode 12)
In this episode, Beah (SVP, Product) and Zbig (Director, Talent) discuss our approach to hiring, and how it’s designed to reflect our unique, cross-functional and mostly async ways of working. Show notes: Check out our careers page and open positions here. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2)
Duck Tales: How DuckDuckGo makes the sites you visit less annoying and more private (Episode 11)
In this episode, Beah (Product) and Max (Frontend) discuss cookie pop-up protection, why our solution is uniquely private, and the feedback loops we use to help us reject cookies across more of the sites you visit. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This
Duck Tales: The DuckDuckGo Subscription — more protection & peace of mind (Episode 10)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Chris (Subscription team) discuss why we built the DuckDuckGo Subscription, its four features, and how it protects more of what you do online. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Show not
Duck Tales: Marketing at DuckDuckGo — how we practice the privacy we preach (Episode 9)
In this episode, Cristina (SVP, Marketing) and Chuck (Front‑end) discuss private marketing at DuckDuckGo, from making decisions with less data to the role of privacy engineers in marketing projects.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy
Duck Tales: Improving AI chat organization, and feature decisions at DuckDuckGo (Episode 8)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Esteban (Design) discuss AI chat organization, from automatic chat naming to ‘pinning’ your most used chats. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Gabriel: Hello, welcome to DuckTales. Insi
Duck Tales: How DuckDuckGo protects users from different types of scams (Episode 7)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Thom (Security Team) discuss Scam Blocker. How it works, the types of scams it protects against, and why our ‘bad pages’ list is updated so often. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Show
Duck Tales: The internet’s privacy problem, and how DuckDuckGo is solving it (Episode 6)
In this episode, Cristina (SVP, Marketing) and Peter (Director, Product) discuss digital fingerprinting, privacy washing, and how hidden trackers appear in the majority of popular websites. Plus, the steps you can take to protect yourself online. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This websi
Duck Tales: More ways to customize DuckDuckGo — now you can exclude certain websites from search results (episode 5)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder) and Greg (Product, Search) discuss how we’re giving users even more ways to customize their search experience with site exclusions — an easy way to remove certain websites from appearing in search results.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is o
Duck Tales: Delight at DuckDuckGo — and why we’ve created 350+ versions of our mascot (Dax the Duck) (Episode 4)
In this episode, Gabriel (founder) and Beah (VP, Product) discuss functional and non-functional product delight, how we’ve created 350+ versions of our mascot (and counting), and why AI is so bad at adding mustaches to Ducks. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Sub
Duck Tales: DuckDuckGo now lets you customize the ‘personality’ of AI responses (episode 3)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder & CEO) speaks with Nirzar (Duck.ai lead) about how we’re making AI more useful by letting users choose the tone and length of AI responses. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Gabriel Hello a
Duck Tales: Why DuckDuckGo built a way to filter out AI-generated images (episode 2)
In this episode, Gabriel (Founder & CEO) introduces our vision for AI and speaks with Rachel (front-end team) about our newly released AI image filter. Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website is operated by Substack. This is their privacy policy.Show notes: See the full post on our a
Duck Tales: Why DuckDuckGo Added the ‘More’ Button for AI-Assisted Answers (Episode 1)
In this episode, Kamyl Bazbaz (VP of Comms) talks with Tim Raybould (AI Lead) about the design of DuckDuckGo’s AI-assisted Search Assist — why it defaults to concise answers, and how the new “More” button lets users dive deeper when they choose.Disclaimers: (1) The audio, video (above), and transcript (below) are unedited and may contain minor inaccuracies or transcription errors. (2) This website
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