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Are there third-party trackers or analytics on DuckDuckGo search results pages?
Executive Summary
DuckDuckGo states it does not use third-party trackers or analytics on its search results pages and provides multiple tracker protections through its apps and extensions, but independent analyses find that third-party tracking on the broader web — notably by Google — can still follow users even when they use DuckDuckGo, largely because websites embed third-party services (analytics, ads, video) that DuckDuckGo cannot control [1] [2] [3]. The company’s public documentation and tools emphasize blocking and reducing third‑party tracking and anonymous ads, while third‑party studies and tracker datasets underline the persistence of embedded trackers across the web and the limits of any single service’s protections [2] [4] [3].
1. Why DuckDuckGo asserts “no third‑party trackers” — and what that actually means
DuckDuckGo’s help pages and privacy statements are explicit: the company says it never tracks searches and does not embed third‑party tracking scripts on its search results pages, and it advertises privacy-preserving ad mechanisms and multiple mitigation features such as non‑JavaScript pages and a Tor onion service [1] [5]. DuckDuckGo’s Web Tracking Protections documentation details technical measures — 3rd‑Party Tracker Loading Protection, 3rd‑Party Cookie Protection, fingerprinting defenses and open‑source block lists — and acknowledges tradeoffs between blocking and site functionality, with surrogates and exceptions used where necessary to preserve user experience [2]. This is a company-position claim about first‑party behavior and platform features, backed by public help pages and technical descriptions [2] [1].
2. Independent tracker datasets show pervasive third‑party tracking on the web, not necessarily on DuckDuckGo pages
DuckDuckGo publishes and maintains a Tracker Radar dataset used to identify trackers across millions of sites, underscoring the company’s role in mapping tracking ecosystems and justifying its blocking efforts; Tracker Radar findings from 2020 reported trackers on over 85% of popular sites, frequently from major players like Google and Facebook [4]. The Tracker Radar Wiki and related resources catalog domains and behaviors, which proves useful for auditing whether specific third‑party domains appear on given pages, but the generalized Tracker Radar data do not directly prove that DuckDuckGo’s own search results pages embed third‑party analytics by default [6] [4]. The dataset is evidence of web‑wide exposure, not conclusive proof of DuckDuckGo’s own page policies [4] [6].
3. External audits and studies highlight limitations in blocking when websites themselves include trackers
Recent third‑party studies show that even privacy‑focused tooling cannot fully stop tracking when websites intentionally or inadvertently embed third‑party services. A July 2025 study found that in the US up to 40% of visited sites still send data to Google via analytics, ads, or YouTube embeds, and that DuckDuckGo reduced but did not eliminate such exposures — outcomes vary by jurisdiction and site behavior [3] [7]. Those findings demonstrate a systemic limitation: DuckDuckGo can minimize trackers on its own pages and block known third parties via extensions and mobile apps, but embedded services on other sites visited from DuckDuckGo search results can still engage trackers that the engine alone cannot erase [3] [2].
4. What DuckDuckGo’s protections practically accomplish — and where gaps remain
DuckDuckGo’s app and extension promise to block most third‑party trackers before they load and to limit cookie‑based profiling, and the company uses open lists and continuous updates to respond to evasive techniques; these protections reduce exposure and improve privacy relative to non‑protected browsing, and DuckDuckGo’s anonymous ad model limits cross‑site profiling tied to its search product [2] [1]. Nonetheless, DuckDuckGo acknowledges that no single tool can eliminate all hidden tracking, and that preserving site functionality sometimes requires exceptions or surrogates that can reintroduce limited tracking vectors; external studies showing residual Google tracking corroborate this limitation [2] [3]. The practical effect is reduction, not absolute prevention [2] [3].
5. The big picture: read claims as product guarantees versus ecosystem facts
DuckDuckGo’s internal policies and technical measures make a defensible case that its search results pages do not intentionally host third‑party analytics and that its products block many trackers; this is a company-level guarantee about platform behavior [1] [2]. Independent tracker studies and the Tracker Radar dataset reveal the larger ecosystem reality: researchers and auditors repeatedly find third‑party trackers embedded across the web, and those can affect user privacy even when a privacy‑focused search engine is used, because site owners choose to include external scripts and embeds [4] [3]. Readers should treat DuckDuckGo’s “no tracking” statement as accurate about DuckDuckGo’s own handling of search results, while recognizing that web‑wide third‑party tracking remains pervasive and can reach users through other sites [1] [3].