Brave’s search engine now includes the ability to search for photos and videos, eliminating the need to use external search engines like Bing or Google. By introducing image and video queries to Brave Search, the company is ensuring that users can find media while maintaining their privacy and freedom of access. Users no longer have to worry about being profiled through their search for pictures and videos, nor do they risk missing politically sensitive content inadvertently included in another search engine’s index.
While users still have the option to use other search engines, Brave acknowledges that certain search features, such as filtering by aspect ratio or license, are not yet available. However, the choice to include image and video queries provides users with the ability to obtain the results they are looking for, as long as they are willing to use a major search engine. Brave believes that having a “clear alternative” is more important than offering complete feature equality.
Brave’s search engine is available for anyone to use on the web, although it is set as the default search engine in the company’s browser. The company aims to expand its reach by encouraging users to contribute to an anonymous Web Discovery Project.
Unlike other privacy-oriented search engines like DuckDuckGo, Brave has differentiated itself by avoiding the use of third-party indexes. In May, Brave stopped using Bing’s search index, giving the company more control over its search results. However, this change is not likely to significantly increase Brave’s market share, as it does not currently rank in browser market share statistics. Nevertheless, it does address a major concern for those who want to minimize data collection as much as possible.
