In 2018, search engine DuckDuckGo acquired Duck.com from rivals Google, eight years after the tech giant originally received the domain during the acquisition of video codec company On2.
Duck.com, which used to redirect visitors to Google’s own website, transitioned to DuckDuckGo’s possession in December 2018. A report I made at NamePros at the time included confirmation of the purchase from DuckDuckGo’s CEO, Gabriel Weinberg.
Ever since, Duck.com has redirected to DuckDuckGo.com. Now, though, DuckDuckGo has put Duck.com to use.
The privacy-focused search engine has now turned its attention to email protection, with Duck.com playing a major role in its new product.
According to details released earlier this year, users of DuckDuckGo’s new email protection service will receive a free, personal @Duck.com email address. Emails sent to your @Duck.com address will forward to your regular inbox, but the email will be stripped of any email trackers.
Trackers can detect when you open an email, where you were when you opened it and what device you were using. DuckDuckGo’s email protection removes those trackers.
Three years on from acquiring Duck.com, it’s great to see DuckDuckGo putting the domain to such good use.