DuckDuckGo switched to Apple Maps

Confidential search engine DuckDuckGo announced a full migration to the MapKit JS framework , becoming one of the first major Internet companies to do this. Technically, MapKit JS is still in beta.

Previously, DuckDuckGo took map information from several providers, including OpenStreetMap (main issue), Bing, Here and Google Maps (routes, etc.).

“Thanks to Apple MapKit JS, we can offer users an improved address search, additional visual features, improved satellite images and constantly updated maps already used on billions of Apple devices around the world,” the official blog said. “Apple Maps are now being introduced into regular search results for the corresponding requests, and on a separate“ Maps ”tab”.

DuckDuckGo notes that this integration has a strict privacy policy : the company does not give Apple or other third parties any personal information, such as an IP address. When receiving search requests with geolocation, the user's coordinates are immediately deleted.. Thus, the proprietary service Apple Maps does not prevent the anonymity of users.

The Apple Maps platform opened to third-party sites through the MapKit JS framework in June 2018 . Until that time, Apple only used these cards for its own services only.

The choice of a map provider became an actual problem for many web developers after a serious price increase on Google Maps ($ 7 for every 1000 map downloads, regardless of the size of the map or user zooming / panning; $ 5.60 with a discount for large volumes).

Apparently, the economic benefit was the main reason for the migration of DuckDuckGo to Apple Maps.