What changes did DuckDuckGo make in August 2022 to block Microsoft tracking scripts?
Executive summary
DuckDuckGo removed a contractual “carve‑out” that had previously prevented it from blocking some Microsoft-owned tracking scripts and, in August 2022, expanded its 3rd‑Party Tracker Loading Protection so Microsoft tracking scripts would be blocked from loading in its mobile browsing apps and browser extensions, with beta and other apps to follow [1] [2]. The change stopped most Microsoft scripts from executing by default, while explicitly preserving limited conversion‑tracking behavior (notably bat.bing.com) tied to ad clicks and advertiser measurement [2] [3].
1. What changed: adding Microsoft to the blocklist and rolling it out fast
In early August 2022 DuckDuckGo announced it would expand the set of third‑party tracking scripts its products block to explicitly include Microsoft‑owned trackers, and said the update would roll out to iOS and Android apps and its browser extensions during the week following the announcement, with beta apps and other products to be updated in the coming month [1] [4] [5].
2. Why this was notable: the prior “policy requirement” carve‑out
Before the change DuckDuckGo’s tracker‑loading protections already prevented many Facebook and Google scripts from loading, but an exception existed that limited how those protections applied to Microsoft scripts due to a policy requirement tied to DuckDuckGo’s use of Bing for search results; DuckDuckGo’s founder publicly acknowledged that limitation in earlier comments [6] [4] [7].
3. The operational detail: most Microsoft scripts blocked, conversion scripts exempted
Practically speaking the new protection blocks Microsoft scripts from loading in “all other contexts,” but DuckDuckGo said it would not, by default, block certain Microsoft conversion‑tracking scripts—such as those served from bat.bing.com—that execute immediately after a user clicks a DuckDuckGo search ad on an advertiser’s site, because advertisers use them to measure whether an ad click resulted in a purchase [2] [3] [5].
4. Transparency moves and published artifacts
Alongside the technical change DuckDuckGo committed to greater transparency: it published tracker blocklists (making them available publicly, including on GitHub) and added a help page explaining tracking protections and what remains unblocked, and it updated store descriptions to warn users that some scripts were previously exempt for contractual reasons [6] [8] [2].
5. Microsoft’s role and competing narratives
Microsoft told reporters it had policy guardrails intended to balance publisher and advertiser needs and that it worked with DuckDuckGo to reach a solution; coverage describes Microsoft relaxing the restriction that had limited DuckDuckGo’s blocking, though reporting also notes DuckDuckGo framed the change as responding to user concerns after earlier criticism [1] [9] [6]. Independent fact‑checks later echoed that DuckDuckGo eliminated the carve‑out in August 2022 and clarified that the DuckDuckGo‑Microsoft advertising partnership on DuckDuckGo’s search pages is distinct from the ad scripts previously allowed on third‑party sites [7] [10].
6. Limits, tradeoffs and the politics underneath
The move improved the default privacy posture for DuckDuckGo users by preventing most Microsoft tracking scripts from loading, but it retained narrowly scoped exceptions for ad conversion measurement and left open that some scripts might still be unblocked in specific ad workflows; those tradeoffs reflect the practical tension between blocking trackers, avoiding site breakage, and maintaining ad measurement for publishers and advertisers—an area where commercial agreements and platform policies can create conflicts between privacy promises and technical implementation [2] [6] [3].