'There are aspects where Google is falling behind. 'Google’s 'long tail' is hard for any engine to beat but we have a plan to compete on that front too, once integrated into the Brave browser,' he told us in an email interview, arguing that Google's massive size does offer some competitive opportunities for a search rival. When ready, we hope to make Brave Search the default engine in Brave.'Īsked how the quality of Tailcat-powered results vs Google Eich described it as 'quite good', adding that it 'will only get better with adoption'. Brave will continue to offer multiple alternative choices for the user’s default search engine, and we think our users will seek unmatched privacy with Brave Search. 'User choice is a permanent principle at Brave.

'We will continue to support 'open search' with multiple alternative engines,' he confirmed. if users don't pick their own) in future, per Eich. It will also potentially become the default (i.e. “Brave’s mission is to put the user first, and integrating privacy-preserving search into our platform is a necessary step to ensure that user privacy is not plundered to fuel the surveillance economy.”īrave web browser adds native support for peer-to-peer IPFS protocolīrave Search will be offered as a choice to users alongside a roster of more established third parties (Google, Bing, Qwant, Ecosia etc) which they can select as their browser default. 'We expect to see even greater demand for Brave in 2021 as more and more users demand real privacy solutions to escape Big Tech’s invasive practices,” he added in a statement. He points to 'unprecedented' growth in usage of its browser over the past year - up from 11M monthly active users to 26M+ - which he says has mirrored the surge in usage earlier this year seen by the (not-for-profit) e2e encrypted messaging app Signal (after Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced a change to its privacy policies to allow for increased data-sharing with Facebook through WhatsApp business accounts).

Also, owing to its transparent nature, Brave Search will address algorithmic biases and prevent outright censorship.'īrave getting into the search business is a reflection of its confidence that privacy is becoming mainstream, per Eich.

'Brave will provide the first private browser+search alternative to the Big Tech platforms, and will make it seamless for users to browse and search with guaranteed privacy.

The brave search engine