 |
| Brave browser dispenses with Google search services |
Brave is a privacy-conscious browser that has by default blocked third-party ads and trackers and announced that it is using its default search engine.
The changes will be applied to new users and will affect the search engine used through the browser's address bar.
Brave Search has replaced Google in the US, UK, and Canada, Qwant in France, and DuckDuckGo in Germany. Other countries/regions will be changed in the coming months.
With most people using what they get, this is a huge achievement for the fledgling search engine, which launched a public beta earlier this year.
Setting the search engine as the default is a valuable advertising strategy, and its importance is so high that it has become a major focus of antitrust review.
In Europe, after European regulators were fined $5 billion for illegally linking its search to Android, Google is now offering a suite of search engines to Android users.
Over the years, Google has also pushed companies like Apple and Mozilla to become the default search engine in their browsers.
"As we've learned from the experience of many browsers, default settings are essential for their adoption, and Brave Search has met the standard required to become our default search option and provide an online privacy experience," he said in a statement.
He added that the company's search engine now processes approximately 80 million queries each month.
This change increased the reputation of Brave Search. But the browser market share is very small. So it can't even compete with well-known competitors like Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Microsoft Edge.
However, as of September 2021, the company claims that its browser has nearly 40 million monthly active users.
Brave Search replaces Google as the search engine in the Brave browser
In addition to improving the status of search engines, this move also demonstrates the company's confidence in the new service geared towards data protection.
Brave Search is based on Brave's independent web index. Many competitors rely on a set of results from a larger index, such as Microsoft Bing. The company said its search engine does not track users, searches or clicks.
In addition to the changes made to the default search engine, the browser has also introduced a new subscription system that allows users to contribute their data and improve their search results.
The browser claims that its Web Discovery project collects search and browsing data in a way that cannot be traced back to individual users. Nor may it be sold to advertisers or handed over to the authorities.
Brave Search is currently free and will not display any ads. However, the company said that in addition to rolling out ad-free premium services, it also plans to launch ad-free versions in the future.