How Can I Block Ads While Using DuckDuckGo
Blocking Ads While Using DuckDuckGo: A Step-by-Step Guide
For users seeking to enhance their privacy and reduce the clutter of advertisements while browsing, DuckDuckGo offers several solutions. Here’s a detailed guide on how to block ads when using DuckDuckGo across different platforms.
Disabling Ads on the DuckDuckGo Website
To disable advertisements on the DuckDuckGo website, you need to access the settings menu. Here are the steps:
- Open the DuckDuckGo website in your preferred browser.
- Click on the menu icon, typically represented by three horizontal lines, located in the upper right corner of the page.
- Select "All Settings" from the dropdown menu.
- Scroll down to the "Advertisements" section.
- You will see an option to enable or disable advertisements. Click on the "Off" button to disable ads.
- To save your changes, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "Save and exit" button.
Blocking Ads on the DuckDuckGo Mobile App
For users of the DuckDuckGo mobile app on Android devices, the process is similar but tailored to the mobile interface:
- Open the DuckDuckGo app on your Android device.
- Navigate to any webpage within the app.
- Tap on the menu icon (usually three horizontal lines) and select "All Settings."
- Scroll down to find the "Advertisements" option.
- Tap on the button to turn off advertisements.
- This will help in reducing distractions and improving page load times, as well as enhancing your privacy by minimizing tracking and targeted advertising.
Built-in Ad Blocker in DuckDuckGo Browser
DuckDuckGo's browser, available in beta versions for Windows and Mac, comes with a built-in ad blocker. This feature is integrated into the browser and does not require additional extensions or settings adjustments. However, it's important to note that while the browser blocks many ads, some users have reported still encountering sidebar ads and popups, particularly on websites like YouTube.
Limitations and Additional Measures
While DuckDuckGo's built-in features are effective in blocking many ads, there are some limitations. The DuckDuckGo browser currently does not support extensions, which means you cannot add additional ad blockers like uBlock Origin or AdGuard. For users who need more robust ad blocking, using a different browser that supports these extensions might be necessary.
General Benefits of Using DuckDuckGo
Beyond just blocking ads, using DuckDuckGo offers several other benefits. It blocks online trackers from sites like Google and Facebook, which helps in preventing targeted advertising across different websites. This also results in faster website load times since these trackers add extra data to the websites you visit. Additionally, DuckDuckGo does not filter search results based on your browsing history, providing more robust and unbiased search results.
By following these steps and leveraging DuckDuckGo's built-in features, users can significantly reduce their exposure to advertisements and enhance their overall browsing experience.
adblock in DDG is subscription – Nah Bro I’m Going back to firefox – ultimate adblocker is free..
Hi. You can still disable ads (I think), but you have to dig to find the option on both the iOS and macOS versions.
Settings > AI Features > Open Search Assist Settings > General (to access the General Search Settings)
From here, it looks like you can turn Ads Off. I don’t know how long this will work for, and it doesn’t seem to work for YouTube Ads.
What other options do we have now that DDG is failing?
yeah, these instructions no longer work, I am seeing ads for the first time using DDG and will be looking for another option if I can’t get rid of them.
‘Advert’ option not found in settings
The ‘star’ setting next to search items does not do anything and I cannot permanantly disable the unwanted AI content, either!
Just like the latest inability to completely disable DuckDuckGo’s AI settings ‘Save’ Button conviniently does not work- all Back whn browser next used, The website Has a comlete disregard for the user’s wish to block adverts, perticularly the prolific ones from Amazon and E-bay.
There is NO “adblock” for DuckDuckgo, so far, and all who say there is only want us to read their websites and make pennies by the same annoying clicks we want to block 😉 This is the ridiculous reality of the 2025 Internet, where spamming is now made legal. Good luck trying to “rule them all out.”
If your instructions to block ads on duckduckgo worked before, they don’t work now, as there is no option to disable advertisements under general in settings. Nothing about advertisements at all under settings at all.
I noticed I still get ads on Facebook for the items I searched for in Duck Duck Go. I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen.
I use Brave search engine; i only use DuckDuckGo of the results on Brave aren’t sufficient. Well, my step two is using mojeek search engine (though their results are more limited, they at least don’t block results based on the DDG politically correct filters).
If those two fail, I still use DDG and judt put up either the barrage of ads (NONE of which pop up for the same websites launched via Brave search engine).
DDG of today really is a poor engine compared to what it was when I started using it decades ago. And it’s not just because the ads that run rampant as you scroll down to continue reading (a three paragraph site turns into a mile-long roadblock of countless ad potholes). And it’s not just that they filter out pages their puppet masters deem too controversial for our eyes (I miss Mamma search, which never embraced the role of Big Mother the way DDG does for their users).
But also because they refuse to consistently accommodate search parameters like quotation marks, + [required ands] and – [exclusions]. They have devolved into only presenting as many results (mostly unrelated) as possible to boost their advertising clicks!