Great to see support for all those important projects, but maybe DDG should use that money to hire someone who makes their Search Results better so we would not have to go back to Google on every other more sophisticated search.
The real trick, is to just start using it and force yourself to. It's really not too bad, and there is always startpage, which you can use as backup.
For reference, I use Firefox on mobile and desktop and when I type in a search I can select which search engine to use. By default I have DDG, and with one click I can get startpage or Google.
However, search is essentially a commodity.
DuckDuckGo has provided additional value which is that you aren't tracked. That, in my opinion, is what makes this a good (stellar) product, that I want to use every day.
They're doing pretty well at an impossible problem. I'm cool with them giving back to the global community.
http://apps.axibase.com/chartlab/e8635882/13/
At least their traffic acceleration suggests they were able to lift off from the 10 million plateau at around that time.
Or they could start a contest, like the Netflix-prize.
bang bang, I'm happy.
!g why would ever go back to vanilla google?