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Brave’s Latest News
Welcome to the Brave blog. You’ve reached the front page for news on ad blocking, features, performance, privacy and Basic Attention Token related announcements.
Splinterlands and Brave Announce Partnership
Brave and Splinterlands both share a similar mission of rewarding users for their time and attention as well as increasing user privacy and freedom, and are looking forward to working together to spread those goals.
Changes to the Referral Program
We launched the Referral Program in early 2018 with the intention of distributing $1 million in BAT to content creators who referred new users to Brave. Towards the end of 2018 we decided to extend the program another year. By the end of 2019 more than $2.2 million in BAT had been distributed to content creators.
Global Privacy Control, a new Privacy Standard Proposal, now Available in Brave’s Desktop and Android Testing Versions
As part of our privacy-in-Web-Standards work, we’re proud to have been involved in the design for the “Global Privacy Control” (GPC) proposal. The GPC proposal allows Web users to signal that they do not want to be tracked online, and where relevant, assert legal privacy rights, as described in legislation like the EU’s GDPR and California’s CCPA.
AMA with Christopher
We were joined for our most recent AMA by Christopher, who is better-known in the BAT/Brave community and on Reddit as bat-chriscat, Technical Operations Coordinator at Brave.
Brave.com now has its own Tor Onion Service, providing more users with secure access to Brave
To continue our support for Tor, we wanted to make our website and browser download accessible to Tor users by creating Tor onion services for Brave websites. These services are a way to protect users’ metadata, such as their real location, and enhance the security of our already-encrypted traffic.
Brave Swag Store Customers Can Now Pay With BAT or ETH at Checkout, in Addition to Credit Cards
This post is a follow-up to our announcement, Brave Launches New Swag Store Powered by Origin, from April 2020. Earlier this year, Brave unveiled its fully revamped Brave Swag Store, the official source for Brave and Basic Attention Token-branded merchandise such as...
New Brave Ads Use Cases Show Up to 15.8% Click-Through Rate, Unmatched Engagement
Brave Ads campaigns are now supported in 191 countries with over 2.4 billion ad confirmations to date (a 140% increase from our last report in July). To date, there have been 2,039 campaigns…
An Introduction to Brave’s In-Browser Ads
Introduced in April 2019, Brave Ads provide Brave’s current 18M monthly active users the choice to opt-in to privacy-preserving advertising.
Updates from Brave Research
Brave Research is a highly dynamic team of researchers and developers whose goal is to push the envelope when it comes to some of the more adventurous aspects and needs of the Brave browser and the underlying ecosystem.
Gemini Trading Widget Now Available to Brave Desktop Users
We are excited to announce that Gemini and Brave have partnered to make it easier for users to buy, sell, store, and earn crypto when using the Brave browser.
WebBundles Harmful to Content Blocking, Security Tools, and the Open Web (Standards Updates #2)
This is second in a series of blog posts describing new and proposed web standards and how they support or threaten web privacy. This post is written by Senior Privacy Researcher Peter Snyder (@pes10k). In a Nutshell… Google is proposing a new standard...
THEMIS: Progressive Decentralization with Smart Contracts and Sidechains (Part 2)
In the first blog post of this series, we presented a straw-man version (StrawTHEMIS) of THEMIS. THEMIS is a decentralized ad platform designed by the Brave Research team. We described (i) how a user is rewarded for the interactions with ads, and (ii) how an...
Brave Sync Version 2 Now Available for Desktop and Android Users
Starting today, Brave desktop users (version 1.12) and Android users (version 1.12) can use our fully redesigned sync functionality to sync data from desktop to desktop, as well as across desktop and Android devices. Support for iOS will follow shortly. Sync v2 was...
Johnny Ryan takes a new role with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, after two years as Brave’s Chief Policy and Industry Relations Officer
Brave today announced that Dr Johnny Ryan, FRHistS, Brave’s Chief Policy and Industry Relations Officer, is departing from Brave to join the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. He will also take up a Senior Fellow position at the Open Markets Institute.
bitFlyer Partners with Next-Generation Privacy-Protecting Browser Brave
Brave browser users in Japan will be able to receive and use BAT bitFlyer, Inc. ("bitFlyer"; HQ: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Kimihiro Mine), which operates Japan's No. 1*1 cryptocurrency exchange by Bitcoin trading volume, and Brave Software, Inc. ("Brave Software";...
Brave and Guardian Partner to Integrate Brave iOS Browser with Guardian Firewall + VPN, to Power the Fastest, Safest Browsing Experience
Gemini and Brave have partnered to make it easier for users to buy, sell, store, and earn crypto when using the Brave browser. This integration allows users to engage with crypto via the new Gemini Trading Widget.
Update (Six Months of Data): lessons for growing publisher revenue by removing 3rd party tracking
This note analyses additional granular data from Dutch publisher NPO, and presents lessons for the publishing industry about privacy and revenue based on six months of data from a publishing group that removed 3rd party tracking.
What’s Brave Done For My Privacy Lately #5: Grab Bag
In order to stay one step ahead of online trackers, Brave regularly releases new privacy features and improvements. This post discusses three recent changes in Brave that each help make the web a more privacy, and person, respecting platform.
Brave and Code for Everyone partner to create a new way to support nonprofit organizations via Brave Rewards
Brave has partnered with “Minna no Code” (Code for Everyone), an educational nonprofit organization in Japan. Our partnership introduces new forms of support for NPOs using the next generation Brave browser and the Brave Rewards ecosystem.
Gemini Integrates with Brave for Trading and Wallet Support
Gemini and Brave have partnered to make it easier for users to buy, sell, store, and earn crypto when using the Brave browser. This integration allows users to engage with crypto via the new Gemini Trading Widget.
Travala.com Launches Marketing Campaign via Privacy-Preserving Brave Ads
Travala.com and Brave Software announced a global ad campaign that promotes Travala.com via privacy-preserving Brave Ads.
Brave and NYIAX Announce Partnership Utilizing Blockchain and Privacy to Connect Advertisers and Consumers
As CCPA Enforcement Went Into Effect, Advertisers Can Now Reserve the Option to Limit Engagement to Consumers Rewarded to See Their Promotions Without Tracking San Francisco, CA and New York, NY–July 9, 2020 Brave Software, makers of the innovative Brave browser...
bitFlyer Partners with Next-Generation privacy-protecting Browser Brave
Brave’s first partnership in the crypto asset wallet space in Japan bitFlyer, Inc. ("bitFlyer"; HQ: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Kimihiro Mine), which operates Japan's No. 1*1 cryptocurrency exchange by Bitcoin trading volume, and Brave Software, Inc. ("Brave...
New data shows publisher revenue impact of cutting 3rd party trackers
This note shares new data on publisher revenue impact from switching off 3rd party ad tracking.
THEMIS: Towards a Decentralized Ad Platform with Reporting Integrity (Part 1)
The whitepaper introducing the Basic Attention Token (BAT) [1] was released mid 2017 and, since then, BAT has been used by millions of users, advertisers, and publishers, each using and earning BAT through the Brave Browser (Figure 1) [2]. It has been a long ride...
California Privacy Rights Act to define and limit “cross-context behavioral advertising”
Following a court decision on Friday, it is now highly likely that California will introduce legislation that curtails adtech tracking.
Johnny Ryan’s privacy keynote for P&G
Procter & Gamble invited Dr Johnny Ryan of Brave to give a (remote) keynote about how advertisers should adapt to the privacy-first future.
Important changes to the Brave Referral Program
Since Brave’s beginnings, our community has been a key engine to our worldwide growth. We are privileged to have such a passionate and dedicated user base that actively endorses and recommends Brave. The Brave Referral Program has been an essential part of that...
On Partner Referral Codes in Brave Suggested Sites
Over the weekend, one of our users noticed that typing “binance.us” into Brave’s address bar added an affiliate code to the end of the address (commonly called a URL) that was typed in. The bad news is that we made a mistake when adding affiliate codes and logic using...
Brave passes 15 million monthly active users and 5 million daily active users, showing 2.25x MAU growth in the past year
Over 1,500 ad campaigns delivered since Brave Ads launched one year ago This May, Brave saw its monthly active users pass the 15 million mark with 15.4 million users, a growth of 50% since the Brave 1.0 launch this past November, and of 125% or 2.25x over the past...
Industry discussion on the GDPR at 2 years old, and future EU regulatory development
Senior representatives of advertisers, publishers, and intermediaries discuss two years of the the GDPR in a discussion hosted by Brave.
Guest AMA with Kindhumans
Welcome to the next installment in our series of BAT Community-run AMAs. The ongoing AMA series on Reddit features various guests from the Brave and BAT teams, and now, guests from projects and causes that Brave collaborates with. The most recent AMA took place on...
What’s Brave Done For My Privacy Lately? Episode #4: Fingerprinting Defenses 2.0
Brave is redesigning its browser fingerprinting defenses to build on the randomization-based techniques discussed in the previous post. These new defenses provide stronger and more web-compatible protections by default…
Mjolnir: Tooling for BAT Apollo
This blog was written by Samuel Dare, Blockchain Engineer at Brave Marching towards Brave’s mission to create a decentralised ecosystem for digital advertising that respects user’s privacy, we aim to incrementally decentralize components of our architecture as they...
Brave Launches Ad and Rewards Campaigns to Support Non-Profit Organizations Fighting COVID-19 Pandemic
Related Articles Continue reading for news on ad blocking, features, performance, privacy and Basic Attention Token related announcements.Resources F.A.Q. Brave Store Help Center Community Brave Branding Media Assets Status Transparency ReportPrivacy Policy Brave...
Binance widget now available to all Brave desktop browser users, enabling seamless cryptocurrency trading and management
Today’s Brave desktop browser update (version 1.8) features the Binance widget, the first exchange-browser integration of its kind. Brave and Binance announced their integration on March 24, and until today a preview version of the widget was featured in Brave’s...
New data on GDPR enforcement agencies reveal why the GDPR is failing
New data from Brave reveals that European governments have not equipped their national authorities to enforce the GDPR. Brave has called on the European Commission to launch an infringement procedure against 27 European governments.
Browser First-Run: iOS Edition
The following review was conducted by Sampson, Senior Developer Relations Specialist at Brave. Last year I did a review of several popular desktop browsers, focusing exclusively on what they do when you launch the browser for the first time. Months later, an...
Guest AMA with Matthew Liu & Nick Poulden of Origin
Welcome to the next installment in our series of BAT Community-run AMAs. The ongoing AMA series on Reddit features various guests from the Brave and BAT teams, and now, guests from projects and causes that Brave collaborates with. The most recent AMA took place on...
New fully rebuilt Brave for Android boosts performance across the board compared to prior versions: 5% battery savings along with 3% of both data and CPU savings
Brave now has 13.5 million monthly active users and 4.3 million daily active users Results from the experimental evaluation in this blogpost were produced by Dr. Matteo Varvello, performance researcher at Brave. The new Brave app for Android (version 1.5.120) is now...
Brave Launches New Swag Store Powered by Origin
Brave unveils new Brave Swag Store, the official source for Brave and Basic Attention Token-branded merchandise. Powered by Origin Protocol’s new decentralized e-commerce platform, Dshop.San Francisco - March 24, 2020 - Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of...
Brave and Binance Partner to Bring Cryptocurrency Trading Directly Into the Browser
Binance widget integrated into the Brave browser puts cryptocurrency management and trading at users’ fingertips in first exchange-browser integration of its kindBinance widget integrated into the Brave browser puts cryptocurrency management and trading at users’...
Formal GDPR complaint against Google’s internal data free-for-all
Brave has filed a GDPR complaint v Google for infringing the GDPR “purpose limitation” principle. Enforcement would be tantamount to a functional separation of Google’s business.
Brave and TAP Network Partnership Connects Consumers and Brands via Blockchain
Brave Users Can Now Redeem BAT for Real-World Rewards from Top Brands in the TAP Network SAN FRANCISCO – March 10th, 2020 – Brave Software, makers of the innovative Brave browser which combines privacy with a blockchain-based digital advertising platform, and TAP...
What’s Brave Done For My Privacy Lately? Episode #3: Fingerprint Randomization
Brave now protects users from being fingerprinted by making them appear subtly different to each website. Browser fingerprinting protection is available today in our Nightly version. These new protections both provide the strongest fingerprinting protections of any popular browser, and work without introducing bothersome permission prompts or breaking websites.
What’s Brave Done For My Privacy Lately? Episode #2: Third-Party Cosmetic Filtering
Problem: Blocking Trackers Sometimes Breaks Sites. One of many ways Brave protects your privacy on the Web is by blocking requests to trackers. By blocking these requests, Brave prevents you from being followed around the Web, and from ad companies, data brokers, and other privacy-harming parties from recording your online activity.
Failure to enforce the GDPR enables Google’s monopoly
Brave’s submission to the UK Competition & Markets Authority shows how to fix the RTB market and end Google’s advertising monopoly.
Sponsored Images now available on all Brave platforms, rewarding users who opt into Brave Rewards with 70 percent of the ad revenue
Brave users will notice that their new tab page features a Sponsored Image, which is shown in every fourth new tab and alternates with Brave’s regular background images for new tabs.
OK Google, don’t delay real browser privacy until 2022
Google recently announced that their Chrome Web browser will — with luck, and if a bunch of other conditions come to pass — probably start blocking third-party cookies.
Brave uncovers widespread surveillance of UK citizens by private companies embedded on UK council websites
Brave has uncovered widespread surveillance of UK citizens by private companies embedded on UK council websites. “Surveillance on UK council websites”, a new report from Brave, reveals the extent of private companies’ surveillance of UK citizens when they seek help for addiction, disability, and poverty from their local government authorities.
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