Brave debuts privacy-preserving ads in its search engine

Starting today, Brave Search will feature privacy-preserving ads as part of a global beta program. Ads will give users the option to use our independent search engine with ads that don’t track them, or to sign up for ad-free paid search. As with other search engines, Brave Search ads are clearly labeled and are integrated into the search results page. However, Brave Search ads protect users’ data and anonymity, while supporting their access to independent and transparent search as a true alternative to Big Tech search engines.

Ads are a key part of search engines, helping to facilitate the free and open exchange of information on the Web, and to connect users to helpful products and services related to their search terms. Despite their usefulness, most search ads track users and violate their privacy. Brave Search ads are fundamentally different: They provide the same utility minus all the tracking and privacy invasions found in other search ads. They give users a chance to learn about new products and—soon—earn rewards for their attention to those ads.

Brave Search is built on a truly independent index of the Web (one of only a handful of search engines that can make that claim), and recently passed 20 million queries per day, growing faster than any search engine since Bing. Search ads allow Brave to maintain independence as it grows, and do so without giving in to Big Tech’s privacy invasions.

Privacy-first ads

By design, Brave Search ads are anonymous, clearly marked, and follow Brave’s commitment to putting users first, and to ethical and transparent advertising practices. Clicking on Brave Search ads is a private experience (unlike the ads on search engines like Google and Bing). Brave Search only uses your search query, country, and device type to show you ads, and does not keep any kind of profile of your searches.

Search Premium

For users that don’t want to see ads, Brave is also offering an ad-free experience: Search Premium. For $3 per month, Brave Search Premium users can continue to enjoy a completely ad-free Search experience, and directly support Brave’s mission to make the Web a more private place with independent search.

Beta phase and Brave Rewards

During this beta phase, Brave Search users will see text-based ads in search results. However, during the beta period, Brave users who have opted-in to Brave Private Ads and are using the latest version of Brave will not see Search ads, since these new ad units are not yet eligible for BAT earnings. We’re actively working to integrate Brave Rewards with Brave Search, and hope to make Search ads eligible for BAT earnings in the coming months.

Brave believes in the importance of independent, private Web search, and in putting users in charge of their online experience. Not using Brave Search? Try it now at search.brave.com, or set it as your browser’s default search engine.

If you’d like to advertise with Brave Search ads, please reach out to sales@brave.com to learn more.