Rival search engine DuckDuckGo says Google’s contracts with browser makers block distribution.

• DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg testified in federal court Thursday that Google’s exclusivity agreement proved to be an “obstacle” to DuckDuckGo’s efforts to make the browser the default search engine for its private browsing mode.
• Ultimately, Weinberg said, DuckDuckGo decided that “it was a fly-by-night.”
• The US Department of Justice and a coalition of state attorneys general have accused Google of violating antitrust laws by using exclusivity agreements as the default search engine on browsers and mobile phones.

Google
DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg testified in federal court Thursday that the exclusivity agreement has proven to be an “obstacle” to DuckDuckGo’s efforts to make the browser the default search engine for its private browsing mode. DuckDuckGo, known for its privacy-focused search engine that competes with Google, once positioned its search engine as a private browsing model for other browsers, Weinberg said during testimony in a district court in Washington, D.C. standard search engine.

The Justice Department and a coalition of state attorneys general have accused Google of violating antitrust laws by using exclusivity agreements as the default search engine in browsers such as Apple’s Safari and phones running Google’s Android operating system. “Frankly, we think this is good advertising for the browser,” Weinberg said when questioned by Justice Department lawyers.

DuckDuckGo’s own research found that many consumers don’t realize that Private Browsing doesn’t offer as much tracking protection as they expect. Weinberg said the company provided the information to browser makers to show that private browsing can mislead consumers and to pitch DuckDuckGo as a solution to the problem.

“We promoted it very heavily,” Weinberg said. Despite the interest, he said they “hit a roadblock” with the company’s contract with Google.

Ultimately, Weinberg said, DuckDuckGo decided that “it was a fly-by-night.” A Google spokesman declined to comment on the testimony.