Brave Browser Taps Own Search Engine As Default

Those who use the privacy-centered Brave browser can now have Brave Search as the default search engine over Google. 

In a blog post published on Wednesday, the company said that new Brave browser users would automatically have Brave Search functionality right in their browser’s address bar without going to the Brave Search website separately. These changes are available Wednesday in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. 

“As we know from experience in many browsers, the default setting is crucial for adoption, and Brave Search has reached the quality and critical mass needed to become our default search option, and to offer our users a seamless privacy-by-default online experience,” said Brendan Eich, CEO and co-founder of Brave, in the company’s announcement. 

The Brave desktop browser and iOS and Android apps will now automatically offer Brave Search as the default for new users. You can also default to Brave Search even if you use other popular browsers such as Google Chrome or if you are an existing Brave browser user. 

Eich added that Brave Search now gets about 80 million search queries a month since it announced its public beta availability back in June.

Brave claims that its search engine won't collect your IP addresses or your search data. The search engine has its own search index without relying on other providers and does not track or profile users.

While Brave Search does have an independent search index, some results, such as image searches, aren't relevant enough yet, so it sometimes uses results from Microsoft Bing until it further expands its own index.

The more popular search engines you are familiar with, such as Google and Bing, record your search queries like your IP address, location, device identifiers, and more. This makes you see more of those annoying targeted ads on social media, websites you browse, or even in your emails.