If they did move it intentionally it's a stupid move. It can't be winning them users and someone will mention it and depose staff about it the next time antitrust proceedings are brought against google.
They should offload the domain to DDG, redirect it while maintaining ownership, or start a service named duck something that's unrelated to search and use it for that.
They should offload the domain to DDG, redirect it while maintaining ownership, or start a service named duck something that's unrelated to search and use it for that.