Privacy-Focused Brave Builds Search Engine to Take on Google

Privacy-focused web browser Brave has launched a beta version of its Brave search engine in an attempt to create a privacy-focused alternative to Google. Brave is basing its search engine on its own index of websites, unlike rival DuckDuckGo which is based on the Bing search index, making it vulnerable to Microsoft’s censorship efforts.

ZDNet reports that privacy-focused web browser Brave has launched a beta version of its Brave search engine in an attempt to create a privacy-focused alternative to Google. Brave acquired the search engine Tailcat in March and aims to challenge Google by approaching online search with a focus on privacy.

Brave stated that its search engine is built using a completely independent index and doesn’t track users, their searchers, or their clicks. The company stated: “Brave has its own search index for answering common queries privately without reliance on other providers.”

Unlike the existing privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo which uses Microsoft’s Bing to power its results, Brave will be using its own search index. Breitbart News recently reported that Bing censored image results for “tank man,” the most iconic image of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, on the anniversary of the tragedy.

Brave is promoting the idea of privacy-protecting ads that can pay publishers as users with Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) when users pay attention to ads. At the same time, Brave is opposing Google’s emerging new system that tracks users online without cookies, called FLoC, or Federated Learning of Cohorts.

Brave’s newly launched search engine can be used by any browser on desktop or mobile at search.brave.com.

Brave now claims to have 32 million monthly active users of its web browser, an increase from 25 million in February. It also claims that over 100,000 people signed up for preview access to the new search engine.

Brendan Eich, CEO and co-founder of Brave, commented: “Brave Search is the industry’s most private search engine, as well as the only independent search engine, giving users the control and confidence they seek in alternatives to big tech.”

He added: “Unlike older search engines that track and profile users, and newer search engines that are mostly a skin on older engines and don’t have their own indexes, Brave Search offers a new way to get relevant results with a community-powered index, while guaranteeing privacy. Brave Search fills a clear void in the market today as millions of people have lost trust in the surveillance economy and actively seek solutions to be in control of their data.”