Brave, a privacy-focused browser, blocks third-party trackers and ads by default. The company announced that it will switch to its own search engine by default. This change will apply to new users and will impact which search engine is used via your browser's address bar. Brave Search will replace Google USA, UK, Canada, Qwant France and DuckDuckGo Germany. In the next months, more countries will be transferred.
This is a major step forward for Braves search engine, which was launched in public beta earlier in the year. Most people take what they are given. It is a powerful promotion tool that has been a major focus of antitrust scrutiny. The default browser search engine is an important marketing tactic. After being fined $5 billion by EU regulators, Google Europe now offers an option of search engines to Android users. This is in response to Google illegally linking Google search to Android. Google has paid companies such as Apple and Firefox to become the default search engine for their browsers over the years.
We know this from our experience with many browsers. The default setting is critical for adoption
We know from many years of experience that the default setting is critical for adoption. Brave Search, co-founder and CEO Brendan Eich, stated in a statement. Brave Search now processes nearly 80 million queries each month, he said.
StatCounter data shows that although Brave Search's popularity will increase, Brave Search's marketshare is small enough to not be able to compete with established browsers like Chrome, Safari Edge, Edge, Opera and Opera. Brave claims that it has almost 40 million active users per month as of September 2021.
The move will not only increase Braves search engine's visibility, but it also shows Braves confidence in its privacy-focused service. Brave Search stands out because it is built on Braves independent index of web results. Many competitors use a mixture of results from larger indexes such as Microsofts Bing. Brave has also stated that it will draw in results from other sources if it cannot produce enough. According to Brave Search, its search engine doesn't track users or their clicks.
Brave will also be changing its default search engine. Brave will also launch an opt-in system that allows users to submit their data and improve search results. Brave claims that its Web Discovery Project collects browsing and search data that can't be linked to individuals and that cannot be sold or given to the authorities.
Brave Search is currently completely free and doesn't show ads. However, the company claims that it will soon roll out ads in Brave Search's free version, as well launch an ad free premium service.
