It's a play on the name of a popular children's game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck,_duck,_goose

I've never heard of this game. I thought that the name hints to the duck test: "if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test

I.e. that Duck Duck Go is what it looks it is - it's a search engine. And not some tool which secretly harvests data of its users for its own benefit.

Interesting your mind went there. It's fascinating to see how people categorize things based on prior knowledge and experience.

> I.e. that Duck Duck Go is what it looks it is - it's a search engine. And not some tool which secretly harvests data of its users for its own benefit.

Well, from this point on both are now true. You're assumption is fantastic. (assuming DDG actually STAYS that way!

To the midwesterners, particularly upper-midwest (Minnesota), we are more familiar with, "duck, duck, gray duck", (if that helps).

Google, Bing, et al are ducks and DDG is the goose?

I am American, and I have no idea of what Duck Duck Go means. Possibly an inside joke? I personally think the name is a limiting factor, and they would be better off with something else (DDG?).

"Duck Duck Goose" is a children's game, in which one player touches the others, each in turn, saying "duck" each time, (duck, duck, duck.... ) then saying "goose!" upon tagging someone "it". So that selection process might reflect looking at search engine results and selecting the right one.

I also think there's a double entendre here, in that to "duck" (i.e. to hunch down for cover) relates to privacy. Duck (privacy invasion), duck (more tracking attempts), then go (to your intended destination).

So: pick from a few choices till you find the goose (that laid the golden egg -- but I digress), then go. And keep your head down while you're doing it. I love it.

Final note: an acquaintance of mine recently worked at Google as a project manager. I first learned about DDG from him about 18 months ago. I got the strong impression, even then, that he (and others at Google) were concerned that DDG might take off.