Brave browser takes aim at Google with privacy-protecting search engine beta

Brave has branched out into the world of search engines with a new privacy-protecting beta search engine.

Brave browser takes aim at Google with privacy-protecting search engine beta

The crypto-powered web browser is aiming to take on the likes of Google, which collects user’s data depending on their browsing habits and showing targeted ads with tailored search results. 

Brave browser is facing an uphill battle against the tech giant which has more than 90% of the market dominance in the internet world.

The browser announced on June 22 stating that it had launched Brave Search beta built into its browser, claiming to be “the first independent privacy search/browser alternative to big tech.”

Brave’s non-tracking privacy-focused search engine is at search.brave.com for testing. It has been built on top of an independent index that does not track users or their searches and clicks and will appeal to those wanting to avoid surveillance-based tech products such as Google search or Microsoft Bing.

The search engine will add a “Google fallback mixing” option for those that still want to use results from the global tech giant’s search engine, or when results do not seem satisfying.

Brave Search will not show ads initially, avoiding the primary way that Google monetizes its search results. However, it will offer free, ad-supported search in the future alongside a paid option without ads and will incorporate its Basic Attention Token (BAT).

Chief Executive Brendan Eich, who led Mozilla and Firefox before co-founding Brave, stated that getting users for search function is crucial to its success as their collective actions will anonymously steer Brave servers toward the highest-quality search results.

Currently, the browser has 32 million monthly active users after hitting 25 million in February, however that is a drop in the ocean compared to Google’s dominance over browsing with its Chrome browser and web search.

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