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Google owns Duck.com, but it'll give rival DuckDuckGo a shoutout anyhow

Update: Google has relented.

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
Sean Hollister
rubber-duck-eva-rinaldi-flickr-cc-by-sa-20

Florentijn Hofman's Rubber Duck, photo by Eva Rinaldi.

Eva Rinaldi (Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Google owns Duck.com, which has been driving rival search engine DuckDuckGo up the wall for over six years. Because when you type "duck.com" into a web browser, you get Google.com. Doesn't make a lot of sense, yes?

But after a new round of complaints this Friday, Google has relented. Google comms VP Rob Shilkin just quacked tweeted that a new landing page will give people an opportunity to click from Duck.com straight through to DuckDuckGo. Or to the Wikipedia page for ducks, because that's only fair. 

Or to ducks.com, which redirects to Bass Pro Shops -- a fact that Google is likely pointing out to inform web denizens that "fairness" isn't always the nature of the internet.

Either way, DuckDuckGo seems happy by the change. The company's CEO and founder tweeted his thanks, plus an additional request:

If you're not seeing the new landing page yet, try clearing your browser cache. Google tells us it's only a matter of time before it finishes rolling out across the web. Here's what we're seeing as of Saturday, July 21:

duck-com

The new Duck.com / On2.com. 

Screenshot by Sean Hollister/CNET

Originally published July 20.

Update, July 21: With screenshot of the new Duck.com