The smarter way to search.

FAQs

• What is Brave Search?

  Brave Search is the world’s most complete, independent, private search engine. By integrating Brave Search into its browser, Brave offers the first all-in-one browser / search alternative to the big tech platforms. Brave Search is available as the default search engine in Brave or most other major browsers, or via search.brave.com.

• How do I use Brave Search, or set it as default?

  For some Brave users who downloaded the Brave browser on October 19, 2021 or later, Brave Search will be automatically set as the default search engine. Simply conduct a search in the address bar of any Brave browser tab. Learn more.

  All other users can set Brave Search as the default search engine in Brave or most other major browsers, and then search from the address bar of any browser tab. To check the default search engine in the Brave Browser, open the settings page at brave://settings/search.

  You can also use Brave Search by visiting search.brave.com from any browser.

• Do I have to use Brave Search if I use the Brave browser?

  No. You can still use other search engines in the Brave browser. To do so, either visit the web address of that search engine (like google.com), or set another engine as the default in the Brave browser.

• Can I use Brave Search in browsers other than Brave?

  Yes. We do not believe in walled gardens, so you can set Brave Search as the default search engine in most major browsers. Or visit search.brave.com.

  We also offer API access to Brave Search so it can power other search engines.

• How can I change the default language for search results?

  Brave Search is available in US and UK English, as well as French, German, and Japanese. We’ll be adding support for more languages soon, so check back often to see when private, independent search is available in your language.

  Note that if you live in the US, UK, France, or Germany and you downloaded the Brave Browser on October 19, 2021 or later, Brave Search may already be the default search engine. You can change the default search engine for the Brave Browser, or change the default language for Brave Search at any time.

• How can I share feedback about Brave Search?

  We listen to all feedback we receive, and incorporate suggestions directly into our product roadmap. Use the feedback icon on any results page to submit feedback and suggestions.

• Will I see ads in Brave Search? Do these ads work with Brave Rewards?

  Brave Search is ad supported and, unlike other search providers, our ads adhere to the principle of privacy-first. Ultimately, our vision is to expand the Brave Ads ecosystem to include search ads that reward users for viewing them. But this is still a work in progress; for now, Brave Search ads are not eligible for Brave Rewards. We hope to have more news on this in the coming months.

  Users who want to support the Brave Search mission, and get an ad-free experience, can upgrade to Brave Search Premium.

• How is Brave Search different? What does “independent” mean?

  First, and most important, Brave Search adheres to core principles of privacy. We don’t track you, your searches, or your clicks. Ever. This is far different from the vast majority of search providers, who siphon up every piece of data about your search behavior, and tie it directly to you.

  Second, Brave Search operates from a fully independent search index. An index is the list of billions of web pages, and some basic info about those pages, that search engines draw from to deliver search results. Most search engines—even supposedly “neutral” or “private” ones—don’t do this. They’re just façades that rely exclusively on third-parties for their results. If Big Tech suddenly ceased to function, those other search operators would go offline. Brave Search, meanwhile, would stay fully operational.

  Independence means choice: for users—and for Brave—to be safer online, and not be beholden to the privacy invasions, censorship, biases, or economic interests of Big Tech.

• Does Brave Search filter, downrank, or censor search results?

  No, Brave Search does not filter, downrank, or censor search results. Nor will we change our search algorithm to increase or decrease the prominence of results in response to current events or anyone’s political, religious, ethical, or other beliefs. Brave Search—like Brave itself—is intended to be a user-first portal to the Web, free of Big Tech’s manipulation.

  However, there is one exception to this rule: We do need to comply with laws governing search engines, including CSAM, copyright takedown (DMCA), right to be forgotten (GDPR), and nation-state orders.

  Also note that, if you’ve chosen to enable it, Brave Search can check Google for fallback mixing in your browser. If you’ve enabled fallback mixing, and a result is censored, filtered, or re-ranked in Google, those changes would pass through to our results. You can easily see how often a third-party result is mixed (via our independence score), and our aim is to gradually reduce this mixing over time.

• What is the Goggles feature, and can it help limit search censorship?

  Goggles is a beta feature of Brave Search. Goggles enable anyone, or any community of people, to create sets of rules and filters to constrain the searchable space and / or alter the ordering of results. Anyone could then choose to apply a Goggle—or extend it—to their view of Brave Search results. Essentially, Goggles will act as a re-ranking option on top of the Brave Search index.

  This means that, instead of a single ranking, Brave Search can offer an almost limitless number of ranking options, enabling search use-cases that could be too specific for an all-purpose search engine. While Brave Search doesn’t have editorial biases, all search engines have some level of intrinsic bias. Goggles allows users to counter this intrinsic bias in the ranking algorithm.

  To access Goggles, simply conduct a search at search.brave.com, and then click the Goggles tab on the results page. Or you can visit the Goggles landing page.

  Read the full white paper about Goggles.

  Visit the GitHub repo to make your own Goggles.

• What's the Web Discovery Project, and how do I opt in?

  The Web Discovery Project is a privacy-preserving way for you to contribute to the growth and independence of Brave Search. If you opt in, you’ll contribute some anonymous data about searches and web page visits made within the Brave Browser (including pages arrived at via some, but not all, other search engines). This data helps build the Brave Search independent index, and ensure we show results relevant to your search queries. By “data” we mean search queries, search result clicks, the URLs of pages visited in the browser, time spent on those pages, and some metadata about the pages themselves. Learn more.

  To opt in, open the Settings menu in the Brave browser. Select Search engine on the left panel, and then toggle on Web Discovery Project. You can opt out again at any time.

• What is an answer engine, and how does Brave Search use AI?

  The Brave Search answer engine (available on the search results page via the “Answer with AI” button) is an AI-powered feature in Brave Search that provides users concise and to-the-point answers at the top of Brave Search results pages. These summaries are based solely on Web search results, and information sources are always cited to help users assess trustworthiness.

  Brave Search has used AI and large-language models (LLMs) for several years. The Answer with AI feature is the most recent of multiple AI developments integrated to improve search relevance. Learn more about Summarizer and the use of AI in Brave Search.