Brave has a browser and a search engine, and you can use them together or independently of each other. When using the browser, you have the option to search with Brave or use your preferred search engine. If you want to continue with the browser you're used to, you can use Brave Search from the dedicated search page. The most important thing to know about Brave Search is that it is still in beta. You may choose to use it because you like its promises of safe browsing, but keep in mind that the results it returns may not be as comprehensive or polished as those you find elsewhere. If you want to help Brave build an independent and secure browser for the future, you can use it to do research and then manage feedback to help you progress.
Brave Search's homepage makes it simple (Image credit: Brave)
Features
The main Brave Search page is as basic as it sounds: there is only the Brave logo, a search bar, and a link to a settings menu.
You can change your preferences, language and other preferences in the Brave Search settings menu (Image credit: Brave) If you click on this Settings menu at the top right of the search page (the 3 horizontal lines), The settings sidebar will appear. You can make certain changes here, like switching to a dark theme and choosing to open links in a new tab. Clicking on "View All Settings" at the top left of this sidebar will open the full settings page. Here you can set your preferred units of measure and select to get anonymous local results and share anonymous employment metrics. If you want to learn more about how this information is kept anonymous, Brave has an explanation here. The results page has everything you would expect:
- All results or segmented images, news and video results.
- Location concrete results
- Safe search options (severe, moderate, or disabled)
- Date range options
- Painting "People also ask"
Otherwise, there is not much to do. Although the Brave browser has certain niceties like the Brave Awards, which give you tokens to watch ads, and a built-in playlist for iOS users, Brave Search is still crude. In keeping with their usual questions section, it also remains to be seen how (and if) they will handle the ads.
As with its browser, Brave puts privacy first in its search engine (Image credit: Brave)
Privacy
Brave Search doesn't track what you search for or click on, whether you're on desktop or mobile. And because Brave doesn't aggregate your data, that means it doesn't share or sell it either. Here are the privacy quirks of Brave Search:
- One hundred% anonymous research
- Private browser integration for desktop and mobile
- Transparency regarding the classification of search results.
- Independent search index
Brave builds its own search index instead of relying on third-party results (Image credit: Brave) As far as this independent research index is concerned, here's a summary of how Brave explains it. Most web search engines rely on third party indexes rather than creating and using their own. Brave builds its own search index...but sometimes anonymously matches search results with third-party results and then merges them on its results page. "This combination is a way to achieve XNUMX% independence," said Brave. By clicking on the "Information" link near the top of the results page, you can see how many results are from third parties. Keep in mind that if you want the most privacy that Brave can offer, you need to pair your search feature with the Brave browser.
User Experience
Brave Search works like any other search engine. When you use the search page, you enter your query in the search box and the suggested searches will be completed automatically. If you are using the Brave browser, you can search directly from the address bar.
Brave gives search results in a clean and minimal way (Image credit: Brave) Above, you can see what a results page looks like, and it will look the same whether you use the search page or Brave Browser.
As Brave Search is still in beta, Brave will ask you to provide feedback on its search results (Image credit: Brave) The biggest downside to Brave Search is that it's still in beta, which means it doesn't have highly polished results for certain languages, queries or areas. There's a backlink on each and every page of results, so you can tell Brave Search if they're right or wrong, which can help you get out of beta.
Brave Search can be used through the dedicated site at search.brave.com, or it can be used with the Brave browser. If you choose to use the Brave browser, you must not use Brave Search; There are 6 other web browsers that you can select to set as default.
Competition
The biggest contender for Brave Search is, naturally, Google. Unlike Google, Brave Search doesn't track what you do or sell your information to trackers. While DuckDuckGo, another of Brave Search's top contenders, also offers anonymous searches, it doesn't use a separate search index like Brave does. How Brave manages to return relevant results without algorithms or data tracking is a bit confusing, but the way they explain it is: "We rely on anonymous contributions from the community to refine results and ranking models. Options community-created alternatives to ensure diversity. .
Final verdict
Brave strives to do what other browsers can't (or can't): create an independent search engine with reliable results, while keeping your data safe. It will take a while, but if Brave can do it, it could end up being a contender in both the browser and the search engine. For now, however, Brave Search is in its simplest form. If you like the site you're going to, using it can help you get there. But we're not suggesting that it completely replaces your preferred search engine for now, especially if you like to have as many options as possible when it comes to query results.