Brave, a growingly popular alternative internet browser and search engine compared to other giants, announced that they are fully cutting ties with Microsoft’s Bing and will only use 100% of their populated search data.
The vast majority of people using internet do not realize that there are effectively only really two search engine databases: Google and Bing. Other popular alternatives like DuckDuckGo and Quant are drawing from Bing’s resources, throttling the results differently but still pulling from the same database.
Brave is trying to truly become its own unique search engine by no longer relying on Bing.
According to a recent press release from Brave, the company revealed that they originally relied on 13% of Bing’s application programming interface (API), and then eventually dropped it down to 7%. Now the browser will completely remove Bing from their experience and only draw from their indexes.
Brave wrote in their press release:
By default, Brave Search users will now receive 100% of results from the Brave Index, giving users fully independent results. As always, our results will preserve user privacy. And this independence does not come at the expense of quality: Over the past several months, the Search team has drastically improved Brave Search’s ability to answer nuanced, long-tail queries.
For the time being, Brave Search won’t serve image or video results from its own index, as we work to improve quality. We now include an option to redirect image and video searches to Bing or Google, rather than relying on a 3rd-party API. Rest assured that the Search team is working on improving image and video search capabilities. If you are conducting these searches within the Brave browser, the browser’s built-in tracking protection applies, even if you’re viewing results on Bing or Google.
In continuing our mission to offer alternatives to Big Tech, Brave is planning to release the Brave Search API. Through it, developers and companies will be able to build search experiences that compete on quality with Big Tech. Those interested should stay tuned for more details, or contact us at bizdev@brave.com.
Brave added: ‘Since its launch, privacy-preserving Brave Search has been the only global, independent alternative to serve results almost exclusively from its own index. That meant far less reliance on the existing Big Tech options (Bing and Google) than the supposed alternatives—like DuckDuckGo—that are actually powered by these Big Tech APIs.’
SEE: Duck Duck Go Will Now Start ‘Down-Ranking Sites Associated With Russian Disinformation’
Brave has poked at DuckDuckGo before, namely after it was revealed that DuckDuckGo – who prided itself on protecting user’s info – has been allowing Microsoft’s Bing and LinkedIn services to collect third party tracking cookies, while no one knew this was occurring, The WinePress reported last year. Brave seized the opportunity to market themselves and promote their protection, while also highlighting their most-updated software for Web3 and advanced cryptocurrency support.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
I have been using Brave for a couple of years and I am happy with it. Is it as safe as they claim it is? Doubt it – I’ve heard this sales pitch before. That being said, I think Brave is a good alternative for anyone looking for one. #Notsponsored
I don’t care what any tech brand says: everything is tracked.
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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I agree with your stance on all of these companies: everything is tracked. At least, in some way. I too have been using Brave for the past couple of years, and though it’s not perfect (none are), I do think it’s one of the best ones to choose from.
Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge, Safari, etc. should all be completely avoided if you care about privacy.
From what I understand, Firefox (or one of its forks called “LibreWolf”) is the most secure and private. I used LibreWolf for a short time, but stopped because it was kinda slow due to all of the privacy measures.
I personally now use Vivaldi browser with the Brave search engine.
Firefox has had a contract with goolag analytics since 2017, and they track users ever way possible. That’s when I stopped using it, and switched over to Brave, which had recently come out in Beta. Firefox, IMHO is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
If people use Brave with a VPN, they are almost impossible to track, depending on their Brave settings. If they use Tor with a VPN, they are anonymous, unless they accept cookies.
Sometimes its a hassle like right now I can’t post here until I change my VPN to a different location.
Isn’t Firefox open source though? Also, that’s why the Firefox fork “LibreWolf” was made.
Yes, Firefox is open source. Being open source doesn’t mean they won’t spy on users, just that devs can change/add to the code. And from what I read, I believe you are correct about LibreWolf. Librewolf strips out all of the telemetry from Firefox. I have never used LibreWolf, so I didn’t want to comment on it. I just wanted to let anyone reading this, that Firefox is compromised, and its not secure. 🙂
Brave has worked so well for me over the years that I haven’t even thought about changing. And it keep getting better.
Yes, Firefox is open source. Being open source doesn’t mean they won’t spy on users, just that devs can change/add to the code. And from what I read, I believe you are correct about LibreWolf. Librewolf strips out all of the telemetry from Firefox. I have never used LibreWolf, so I didn’t want to comment on it. I just wanted to let anyone reading this, that Firefox is compromised, and its not secure. 🙂
Brave has worked so well for me over the years that I haven’t even thought about changing. And it keeps getting better.
I JUST downloaded Brave and am using that now. I’ve used Opera for quite a while. I CAN say that I was on the ESPN website on Opera and got ALL of these ads EVERYWHERE on the page! So far, it appears these ads are SQUASHED with Brave. I DO love this! 🙂
I haven’t seen an ad in years. lol Check out Speed Reader mode (on the right side of the address bar) if you want nothing but text. Its awesome.
I can see what you mean here, JB! No ads! I tried that Speed Reader mode. That sure strips the website down to just text, doesn’t it? Interesting feature!
I agree, everything is tracked online regardless of what browser or search engine we’re using. I think the only advantage of using various browsers is that at least you can get different search results when you’re looking up stuff and not be too limited inside the bubble of Google, DuckDuckGo, etc. search engines.
That’s what I do too, for the most part.
Yeah. It would be the logical workaround to these search engines, I find.