Google, here’s some bad news for you. From today, new Brave browser users will have the search functionality in the Brave browser powered by Brave Search, giving them the privacy & independence of a search/browser alternative to Big Tech.
Brave announced that Brave Search was built on top of an independent index, & did not track users, their searches, or their clicks. Privacy-preserving Brave Search now replaces Google as the default search engine used in the address bar for new Brave users in the United States, Canada, & the United Kingdom; Brave Search as default also replaces Qwant in France, & DuckDuckGo in Germany, with more geographies to be added in the next several months. Existing Brave users will keep their chosen search engine default, and can set Brave Search as the default search engine in Brave or most other major browsers.
Today’s Brave desktop browser update (version 1.31), as well as the Brave Android app (version 1.31) & the Brave iOS app (version 1.32) all automatically offer the new search as the default for new users in these 5 countries, with fully localized versions in non-English geographies. Brave Search is also available in any other browser at search.brave.com.
Brave Search is currently not displaying ads, but the free version of Brave Search will soon be ad-supported. Brave Search will also offer an ad-free Premium version in the near future.
“Brave Search has grown significantly since its release last June, with nearly 80 million queries per month. Our users are pleased with the comprehensive privacy solution that the new search provides against Big Tech by being integrated into our browser,” said Brendan Eich, CEO & co-founder of Brave in a written statement.
Image credit: Brave
