Duck.com Now Forwarding to DuckDuckGo (Updated)

Over the Summer, Cnet published an article about how Google owns the Duck.com domain name. It was notable because of a popular upstart competitor in the Internet search space called DuckDuckGo. I am sure DuckDuckGo would have loved to own Duck.com, and from the looks of it, the company may have acquired Duck.com.

If you visit Duck.com right now, you will be forwarded to DuckDuckGo.com.

Over the weekend, Jamie Zoch first reported that Duck.com may have been sold to DuckDuckGo because it transferred to Namecheap and the nameserver records are the same as DuckDuckGo. I also saw the transfer in my DomainTools monitor email, and I sent an email to the Google press relations office as well as the Investor Relations team to ask if Google sold Duck.com. I have not received a response to my query, but I will follow up should I receive on.

Google acquired Duck.com when it acquired On2 Technologies, which was formerly called The Duck Corporation. Google forwarded Duck.com to its search engine page, and it later forwarded Duck.com to On2.com, where it explained the acquisition and shared a few links to other “duck” related websites.

Because Duck.com is registered under privacy proxy, it is not clear that DuckDuckGo now owns Duck.com. I will follow up with Google to see if they can confirm the sale, and I will also reach out to DuckDuckGo to see if the company can confirm that it acquired Duck.com.

I posted a poll this Summer, and the majority of voters believe the Duck.com domain name is worth $500,000 or more. Assuming DuckDuckGo acquired Duck.com, my guess is that it was a seven figure deal.

Hopefully there will be more to come…

Update: DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg provided a comment to me via email a moment ago:

“We’re pleased Google has chosen to transfer ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo. Having Duck.com will make it easier for people to use DuckDuckGo.”

Second Update: A representative from Google’s media relations office responded to my email with a brief statement from Google:

“Google has agreed with DuckDuckGo, Inc. to transfer ownership and rights of the duck.com domain to DuckDuckGo.”

I asked if the company could comment about the sale price, but I was told there are no further details to share. It remains to be seen if DuckDuckGo bought the domain name from Google or if some other type of deal was reached. Perhaps we will learn more if either company mentions the Duck.com domain name in a subsequent SEC or IRS filing.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

13 COMMENTS

  1. – Whats is…?
    – Duck it!
    – Yeah, I dont really care either, just curious.
    – I tell you go duck!
    – You know you’re just being rude? Duck yourself!

  2. It’s possible there was no cost involved. GoDaddy wants to avoid anything that would look like abusing its perceived search monopoly.

    • That would not surprise me based on the way both companies worded their statements. Nothing about the domain name being bought or sold.

  3. “Assuming DuckDuckGo acquired Duck.com, my guess is that it was a seven figure deal.”

    ////////////////////////////////////

    Very unlikely given they have only raised $13million. Wouldn’t surprise me if it was a trivial amount or free given the bad press of Google owning it. Google will be looking for some kind of spin to somehow prove they aren’t evil.

  4. If I remember correctly there were multiple 6 figure offers for that name from domain investors. Duck.com like every paper clip at Google is property of the Google shareholders, I can only hope they didn’t give it away for free…

    • Please… The company is called DuckDuckGo, not Duck. They chose the already name and they already owned their .com. Duck.com is worth mid 6 figures at least. Now where exactly is giving that asset away for free changing your “status quo”?

      • You don’t seem to have a clue what I’m saying. Anyone should be able to see that a name like “Duck” and “Duck.com” could become so popular that it could potentially inflame real competition for the big monopoly. A name can easily be changed from “DuckDuckGo” to “Duck” and “Duck.com.”

        • But it hasn’t. Their name is DuckDuckGo so either change your name and pay up for a new name / domain or COMPETE with your old one. If you wand handouts move to Venezuela or Cuba. Not your business to decide which company is a monopoly and which one isn’t. Alphabet is a public listed company. They are owned by their shareholders. If you have a problem with private property and ownership that’s up to you.

        • You are so ridiculous. It hasn’t, ay? They just got it. (Hello?) And now they can use it and even switch to it.

          I understand being uptight about something, but at least slow down enough to even understand what a person just said before launching into vitriolic displeasure.

  5. It appears to me that transferring the ownership and rights of Duck.com without compensation could constitute a financial damage to existing Alphabet shareholders.

    IMO that asset is worth at least mid 6 figures (base case). Embezzlement with a financial damage of above $1,000 is a federal crime…

    “If the impacted items are valued $1,000 or more, regardless of whether they consist of tangible property, public records, or other materials, fines and jail time may be possible. Generally speaking, the fine may not exceed $250,000, and the jail time may not exceed a maximum of ten years.”

    Disclosure: I own Alphabet Class A shares.

  6. OK, to ‘Most of All Commentors’…, I Recently Decided to Try – DuckDuckGo , Was Only Given Option to ‘Combine ‘It with Google. Have the Scum Bags, Also ‘Bought Out Any Competition’ ?,as Usual ! Again, Privacy, Whether ‘you’ Agree with It , Is Forever an Issue. ? Do ‘We’, Or ‘Someone Need to Start an ‘Alternative to { www. com } ??? Do we Have to Go Back to “Short Wave Radio’ to Have a Voice ??! Even After That, Will, Microsoft, Google, Etc., Etc, { ‘Et Cetera’, to you ‘Intellectual’s’ }, &, Know How ‘YOU’ , Will Be ‘Eliminated as Soon as Your ‘Superiors’ Absolutely Don’t Need ‘y’r” Pre-Historic Mind Set Any More. Your ‘globalist’ Plan Will Meet with Anarchy, & & You Will Be the First to Go. ? Does “Mari Antoinette” Ring a Bell ?? & Someone Knows Where ‘you’ Live, Even Hiding in Y’r Modern Bunkers. @ On th’ SHIP of FOOL’s, ETERNALLY, IT,s Th’ Plank F’r Us Mate’i, I Volunteer to Be Next, As the ‘Captains & His Crew,Belong in Davies Locker w’ th’ Rest of Humanity… P.s. Is Having a ‘Short Wave Radio’, Now a Treasonable Offense ? Maybe, I Should Be Watching M.S.M.,- DuckDuckGo, was Compromised the Second It Was Born. Copyrighted, 1948, “NewSpeak” 2019, Hint, “Orwell”, Was a ‘Prophet’, Welcome to Our ” Le Fléau…!!!

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