Illustration by Stephen Shankland / CNET
Brave browser creator acquired a search engine project that prioritizes user privacy, a distinction that hopes to differentiate it from Google, the undisputed leader in Internet searches.
On Wednesday, Brave said it bought Tailcat, developed by Cliqz, a subsidiary of German Hubert Burda Media. Tailcat, which Burda closed in 2020, was designed to show results without recording the user’s search activity or building a profile. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Burda is now a shareholder in Brave.
Brave eventually plans to show search ads through Brave Search, as the Tailcat technology is now called. Brave opened a waiting list on Wednesday so beta testers can test it in the coming weeks, with general availability scheduled for late spring or summer.
The startup hopes to pay users to view the ads, as it does with its main browser. Brave’s existing browser-based ad system pays 70% of ad revenue to Brave users who choose the system, called Brave Rewards.
“If we get to the promised land of our own automated search ad system, we’ll give the user at least what we’ve earned,” said Chief Executive Brendan Eich.
Brave is unlikely to dethrone Google search anytime soon. But Tailcat can show that there is room for financial success with a company that puts privacy first. The Brave browser has grown steadily since its initial launch in 2016. Eich predicts that Brave will have up to 50 million monthly users by the end of the year, double the 25 million users it has now. It does not disclose financial information, but its revenue has grown 28-fold in the past 16 months and now employs 115 people.
Of course, going against Google is a huge undertaking. The search giant accounts for more than 90% of search queries, according to analyst StatCounter. Microsoft’s Bing is in a distant second place, with less than 3%. Other companies like Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and StartPage repackage search results from Bing and Google.
Two decades ago, Google took the lead because its algorithms, including the seminal technology PageRank created by Google co-founder Larry Page, offer quick and relevant results. Its AdWords system, which shows ads alongside search results, remains a money-making machine.
Brave Search starts at a disadvantage because it has a lower web index than Google. Brave will try to overcome this obstacle by complementing algorithms that assess relevance with anonymous data from Brave users themselves.
Brave can do this by analyzing the data that the browser collects in users’ searches and the links they click on, information that can be shared anonymously. Cliqz hired outside security researchers to test the system, Eich said, and is confident that the research data cannot be traced to any individual.
The company’s new search service will still rely on Google’s experience to some extent. In Eich’s opinion, the wholesale copy of the full Google search results for a given search query is inappropriate. But tracking the link that people click between results is “OK”, he said, as long as it is done anonymously and with the users’ permission. Brave Search will only collect data from users who have chosen toSaid Eich.
Many companies use privacy as part of their sales pitch, and Google is a frequent target. However, with changes in people’s privacy priorities and regulatory pressure, Google is changing its methods. On Wednesday, he said that starting next year, stop tracking individuals as they visit different sites. The executive who made the announcement was David Temkin, director of product management for privacy and ad trust at Google. Previously, he was product director at Brave.