DuckDuckGo API

About Search Engine APIs

Search engine APIs allow developers to tap into the databases of search engines like DuckDuckGo, Google, Bing, and more.

What is DuckDuckGo?

DuckDuckGo (DDG) is a Pennsylvania-based company whose name is a nod to the kid’s game duck, duck, goose. The search engine company emphasizes user privacy and sets itself apart by showing its users the same results for search terms instead of personalized ones.

How does a search engine work?

Search engines utilize web crawlers for scanning billions of pages across the world wide web. These crawlers, also known as bots or spiders, follow links on the web pages to discover new pages and content. The results are then entered into a database known as an index.

The search engine’s index then ranks a web page’s importance by analyzing various key metrics, like on-page keywords (what the page is about), content (Schema microdata), freshness (when was the page updated last), and user engagement (how people interact).

When a user performs a search, the engine’s algorithm determines what results to show for the query. Key factors include location, language, previous search history, and the device they are searching on. Algorithms differ between search engines, so the results for a term on Google will vary from that on Bing. These search engines learn how users interact with the listings, such as which links they choose to follow. Therefore, the algorithms are dynamic. DDG is different in that they do not track their users in this manner.

Who can use the DuckDuckGo API?

Anyone can use the DDG API as long as you give attribution. For commercial purposes, a developer must get an email confirmation that their use case is approved. The DuckDuckGo API does not return full results; instead, it gives access to the search engine’s ‘instant answer’ database.

Why is DuckDuckGo important?

Trackers are everywhere online, including search engines. DDG is prized for keeping user’s information private. DuckDuckGo APIs likewise protect the end user’s privacy.

What can you expect from the DuckDuckGo API?

The DuckDuckGo API returns instant answers on topic summaries, categories, disambiguation, and more. Due to the way its results are displayed, the API does not frame a total search result. Instead, the answers come from places like CrunchBase, GitHub, THeFreeDictionary, Wikipedia, and the like.

Are there examples of free DuckDuckGo APIs?

1. Custom Search
2. Google Search
3. Web Search
4. DuckDuckGo Zero Click Info
5. WOT Web Risk and Safe Browsing
6. All SERP

DuckDuckGo API SDKs

All DuckDuckGo APIs are supported and made available in multiple developer programming languages and SDKs including:

1. Node.js
2. PHP
3. Python
4. Ruby
5. Objective-C
6. Java (Android)
7. C# (.NET)
8. cURL

Just select your preference from any API endpoints page.

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