Brave Browser Says Goodbye to Google As Default Search Engine, Replaces With 'Privacy-Preserving' Brave Search

The increasingly popular privacy-focused browser Brave is officially saying goodbye to Google as its default search engine, replacing the world's most popular search engine in favor of "Brave Search," the company announced in a blog post.

brave search beta
Brave Search is Brave's answer to customers wanting a "privacy-preserving" search engine, and it's built using Brave's own "independent index, and doesn't track users, their searches, or their clicks." Brave users in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada will automatically have Brave Search set as their default search engine in the address bar instead of Google. Brave Search is also replacing other default browsers, such as Qwant in France and DuckDuckGo in Germany.

Today's Brave desktop browser update (version 1.31), as well as the Brave Android app (version 1.31)* and the Brave iOS app (version 1.32) all automatically offer Brave Search as the default for new users in these five countries, with fully localized versions in non-English geographies. Brave users can easily choose a different search option if they prefer by managing their search engine settings. Brave Search is also available in any other browser at search.brave.com.

Users in all countries will still be able to revert their default search engine back to Google or DuckDuckGo, but Brave is hoping the majority won't. Brave Search does not display any ads in its current form, but the company announced plans this week to change that. Brave says that the free version of its search engine will "soon be ad-supported," with the company planning to offer a premium ad-free plan later down the line. Brave launched Brave Search in beta earlier this summer.

Tag: Brave

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Top Rated Comments

ds2000 Avatar
47 months ago

who tried brave?
I've been using it for 2 years. Its great :)
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MJaP Avatar
47 months ago

Brave is a scam.

They'll market themselves as "privacy focused" by blocking ads, then they will release their own ads to make money.

Anyone who actually falls for this is an idiot.
"privacy focussed" doesn't mean blocking ads, it means keeping your details private and not exposing and sharing them with anyone, so I suspect you won't get targeted ads you'll just get generic ads. They've got to pay for their servers, developers, electricity somehow you know, they can't do it off of good will and unicorn wishes.

I sometime get tired of the self-entitled "I expect you to give me stuff for free" mentality.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bandaman Avatar
47 months ago

who tried brave?
My favorite browser.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
supercoolmanchu Avatar
47 months ago

I've tried Duckduckgo and all the other alternatives. They all suck compared to Google in terms of search results.

Do I like Google? Not at all.
Do I want the best search results? Absolutely.
An interesting feature of DuckDuckGo is if you type a “g!” before your search term, DDG uses Google search thru their own server, as a layer of search privacy contraceptive.

You can also specify other search engines, like “y!” for the true renegades who still use Yahoo!

I wonder why Amazon hasn’t dabbled with a search engine? They seem to have all the infrastructure in place, and already deploy one for their own webshop. It would be the perfect vehicle for placing ads for their own retail operation.

If I was a shark like Amazon exec with an eye towards a fat promotion, I’d be waiting for any Google stumble to launch that proposal.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johannnn Avatar
47 months ago
I've tried Duckduckgo and all the other alternatives. They all suck compared to Google in terms of search results.

Do I like Google? Not at all.
Do I want the best search results? Absolutely.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TTTedP Avatar
47 months ago
DDG with g! works fine
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)