What have DuckDuckGo and Microsoft publicly disclosed about their search partnership and data-sharing agreements?
Executive summary
DuckDuckGo publicly acknowledged a contractual carve-out in its Microsoft search syndication agreement that, until August 2022, prevented the company’s browser and extensions from blocking some Microsoft-owned tracking scripts on third‑party sites, and said it has since removed that restriction while maintaining that its search results and ads are delivered without tying searches to individual users [1] [2] [3]. Independent researchers and multiple news outlets documented the technical behavior and DuckDuckGo’s admission, while Reuters and DuckDuckGo emphasize that the advertising partnership is limited to ad placements and — per DuckDuckGo’s stated terms — Microsoft does not build user profiles from DuckDuckGo ad clicks [4] [5].
1. The carve‑out: what DuckDuckGo admitted and why it mattered
Security researchers found that DuckDuckGo’s mobile browser allowed data flows to Microsoft-owned domains — notably Bing and LinkedIn — while blocking many other third‑party trackers, a finding DuckDuckGo’s CEO confirmed was due to a search syndication agreement with Microsoft that constrained the company’s ability to block Microsoft scripts in its apps and extensions [1] [6]. The disclosure triggered widespread coverage because it appeared to conflict with DuckDuckGo’s privacy positioning; DuckDuckGo responded by saying the allowance was intentional, limited to the browser context and not embedded in its core search engine, and that it was negotiating to remove the limitation [1] [7].
2. The change: removal of the Microsoft tracking carve‑out
In August 2022 DuckDuckGo announced it had eliminated the specific carve‑out that had restricted its third‑party tracker protections against Microsoft scripts, framing this as an amendment to the syndication terms and part of ongoing efforts to improve protections in its browsing apps [2]. Company statements accompanying that change reiterated that while DuckDuckGo aims to block trackers broadly, there are technical limits once a user leaves DuckDuckGo and visits third‑party sites, where site owners’ own policies and scripts apply [2].
3. What DuckDuckGo publicly says about search, ads and user identifiability
DuckDuckGo’s help pages and public statements assert a firm policy: the company does not save or share users’ search or browsing history from its engine and proxies requests to partners so searches “cannot be tied back to you” by DuckDuckGo or its partners [3] [5]. On its ads page the company further states that when Microsoft‑provided ads appear on DuckDuckGo, Microsoft Advertising “does not associate your ad‑click behavior with a user profile” and does not store or share that information except for accounting purposes, though Microsoft will process IP and user‑agent details when redirecting an ad click to an advertiser landing page [5].
4. Independent reporting and corrective context
Multiple technology outlets, security researchers and auditors chronicled the technical evidence and called attention to the contract terms; publications such as Bleeping Computer, Search Engine Journal and The Next Web reported DuckDuckGo’s admission that the registry was contractual and noted the company’s pledge to improve transparency and app descriptions [1] [6] [8]. At the same time, Reuters fact‑checked viral claims and emphasized DuckDuckGo’s public position that the Microsoft partnership was limited to ad placements and not to building cross‑site user profiles based on DuckDuckGo searches or ad clicks [4].
5. What Microsoft has publicly disclosed (and what remains opaque)
Public reporting includes DuckDuckGo’s description of Microsoft’s contractual role and a quoted Microsoft Advertising commitment on DuckDuckGo’s own pages, but direct, detailed public disclosures from Microsoft about contractual terms with DuckDuckGo are limited in the available reporting; Microsoft declined some media requests for comment in earlier coverage and DuckDuckGo said it could not publish further contract details beyond noting the carve‑out and its removal [1] [2] [5]. Where Microsoft’s obligations are cited, they appear largely mediated through Microsoft Advertising’s stated practice of not associating DuckDuckGo ad clicks with profiles, yet concrete, publicly posted contract text or a Microsoft‑side public statement beyond ad‑platform policy excerpts has not been produced in the sources provided [5] [2].
6. Takeaway and unresolved questions
Public disclosures from DuckDuckGo acknowledge a past contractual restriction, describe remedial action, and assert privacy‑protecting mechanisms for search and ads, while independent reporting documented the technical issue that prompted the admission; Reuters and DuckDuckGo push back on narratives that Microsoft was secretly building profiles from DuckDuckGo searches, but the full contractual language and detailed Microsoft confirmations are not available in the cited reporting, leaving some specifics about term mechanics and guarantees partly opaque [1] [4] [2] [5].