3 ms·

This is a confusing marketing campaign because DDG is very much aware that the people voting on this poll are not a representative sample of DDG users.

chrisjj 10mo ago
I'd be interested to hear the source of that info.
- minimaxir 10mo ago
  That's just standard sampling bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_bias It's why public internet polls are more for fun/validating confirmation bias than actually gleaning actionable statistical insight, and why no one does them anymore. In this particular instance, the presentation and call-to-action rules out the "fun" angle of the poll.
  - chrisjj 10mo ago
    So... who is it confusing, exactly?
    - minimaxir 10mo ago
      Confusing is my personal perspective, interpreting the campaign in good faith.
PaulHoule 10mo ago
Yeah, but there are enough passionate anti-AI people out there that reaching out to them could be the killer marketing move of 2026. The poll is 4% Yes, 96% No when I checked it. It's pretty clear that pro-AI marketing falls flat, see "Copilot + PC" People pushing AI might get investors today, but companies that take a stand against it might get the customers. Pick one.
- minimaxir 10mo ago
  If you vote Yes AI, you get a link to https://yesai.duckduckgo.com/ https://yesai.duckduckgo.com/ which references http://duck.ai/ http://duck.ai/, DDG's AI platform, and the passionate anti-AI people don't like anything AI adjacent which DDG is doing. DDG is trying to have their cake and eat it too.
  - add-sub-mul-div 10mo ago
    What does having both an AI and a non-AI mode have to do with the vote not being a representative sample? Did they promote this vote exclusively to one camp or the other?
    - minimaxir 10mo ago
      Another aspect of internet polls as a marketing technique (and a poor source of representative opinion) is to implicitly encourage voters to brigade a certain option, which just increases visibility to the poll especially if it's a contentious topic. Case in point: https://bsky.app/profile/lexfeathers.ca/post/3mckp3y57d52b https://bsky.app/profile/lexfeathers.ca/post/3mckp3y57d52b
  - Grimblewald 10mo ago
    Works in my books. All everyone ever wanted was transparency and a choice, and this does that. AI should be opt in, not use-it-or-else.
  - freehorse 10mo ago
    As long as they dont force people eat the cake, it sounds fine?
  - whattheheckheck 10mo ago
    No ai goes to it too
- Grimblewald 10mo ago
  I used to evangelize pro AI, but these days I am staunchly anti. Not AI specifically, but corporate involvement in any aspect of it's development or rollout. Behavior to date does not inspire confidence in competence or moral/ethical soundness. The aggressive non-consensual attempts to force it into every aspect of our lives is itself plenty of proof for the fact we cannot trust it.
divbzero 10mo ago
This looks like a marketing campaign to me too. It makes sense to just give users an option: In fact, users can already turn off AI in DDG search results by clicking the settings icon on the top right corner of the Search Assist panel.

chrisjj 10mo ago

I'd be interested to hear the source of that info.

minimaxir 10mo ago
That's just standard sampling bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_bias It's why public internet polls are more for fun/validating confirmation bias than actually gleaning actionable statistical insight, and why no one does them anymore. In this particular instance, the presentation and call-to-action rules out the "fun" angle of the poll.
- chrisjj 10mo ago
  So... who is it confusing, exactly?
  - minimaxir 10mo ago
    Confusing is my personal perspective, interpreting the campaign in good faith.

PaulHoule 10mo ago

Yeah, but there are enough passionate anti-AI people out there that reaching out to them could be the killer marketing move of 2026. The poll is 4% Yes, 96% No when I checked it. It's pretty clear that pro-AI marketing falls flat, see "Copilot + PC" People pushing AI might get investors today, but companies that take a stand against it might get the customers. Pick one.

minimaxir 10mo ago
If you vote Yes AI, you get a link to https://yesai.duckduckgo.com/ https://yesai.duckduckgo.com/ which references http://duck.ai/ http://duck.ai/, DDG's AI platform, and the passionate anti-AI people don't like anything AI adjacent which DDG is doing. DDG is trying to have their cake and eat it too.
- add-sub-mul-div 10mo ago
  What does having both an AI and a non-AI mode have to do with the vote not being a representative sample? Did they promote this vote exclusively to one camp or the other?
  - minimaxir 10mo ago
    Another aspect of internet polls as a marketing technique (and a poor source of representative opinion) is to implicitly encourage voters to brigade a certain option, which just increases visibility to the poll especially if it's a contentious topic. Case in point: https://bsky.app/profile/lexfeathers.ca/post/3mckp3y57d52b https://bsky.app/profile/lexfeathers.ca/post/3mckp3y57d52b
- Grimblewald 10mo ago
  Works in my books. All everyone ever wanted was transparency and a choice, and this does that. AI should be opt in, not use-it-or-else.
- freehorse 10mo ago
  As long as they dont force people eat the cake, it sounds fine?
- whattheheckheck 10mo ago
  No ai goes to it too
Grimblewald 10mo ago
I used to evangelize pro AI, but these days I am staunchly anti. Not AI specifically, but corporate involvement in any aspect of it's development or rollout. Behavior to date does not inspire confidence in competence or moral/ethical soundness. The aggressive non-consensual attempts to force it into every aspect of our lives is itself plenty of proof for the fact we cannot trust it.

divbzero 10mo ago

This looks like a marketing campaign to me too. It makes sense to just give users an option: In fact, users can already turn off AI in DDG search results by clicking the settings icon on the top right corner of the Search Assist panel.