Scripts for bat.bing.com that load instantly after a user clicks on one of DDG’s search advertisements, which it claims are utilized on advertisers’ sites to analyze ad performance, will not be blocked by default when the modifications go into effect this week. However, according to the blog post, DuckDuckGo’s third-party tracker loading protection would prevent Microsoft’s scripts from being loaded “in all other scenarios.” Users may prevent this, according to Weinberg, by blocking advertisements in the DuckDuckGo search settings. DuckDuckGo, like several other firms, claims it’s working on non-profiling technology to replace the scripts, but it’s not ready yet.
DuckDuckGo’s criticism continues to center on Google’s advertising profiles and all the data they tend to suck up from its many businesses, which is understandable given that the majority of Alphabet’s $257 billion revenue grab in 2021 came from advertising.