“Search without traces” – is the claim and motto of Brave Search, a search engine that the actual browser provider is now making available in a public beta. With it there should be neither personal nor search-related tracking. Brave Search runs mobile and on the desktop as a web version. You can search for pictures, messages and videos. There are also tabs for information and feedback.
Brave explains that the aim is to serve the searcher, not large companies, as happens with other search engines, namely Google. And other, smaller providers are also criticized because they cannot do without third-party technology. “We deliver results based on our specially built index.” Search results were not subject to bias, no algorithms intervened, and no other secret methods determined them. Anonymous posts and alternative rankings, on the other hand, determined the results.
But not entirely self-made
Brave describes the advantages as follows: The entire search is anonymous, integrated into a private browser, with transparent rankings of the results and based on an independent index. DuckDuckGo, it goes on, uses the index of Microsoft’s search engine Bing. In the FAQ area, Brave also admits that some of the results are currently being fetched from other search engines – but this part should disappear as soon as possible.
Well-behaved search didn’t just develop in-house. At the beginning of the year it became known that the American browser manufacturer had bought the Tailcat search engine technology from the estate of the Burda subsidiary Cliqz. It was said that it wanted to open up a new source of income and challenge Google. Brave Search is still free.
Heise or Heisenberg
Entering heise online in the Brave search mask results in the Wikipedia entry on Heinz Heise, followed by other company pages that report on Heise companies and a link to the Google Play Store, where you can download the app . The page heise.de is missing on the start page, but there are also no wrong or crude results to be found. News from heise online and the associated brands can be found on the first page of the news area.
Brave also has an information box, similar to Google’s Knowledge Panels, on the right. If you only enter Heise, however, an LED manufacturer and a location in the USA make the race. Brave Search also has a supplementary function in the search field – by the way, Werner Heisenberg wins there.
Settings such as country and location can change search results. For example, users in Germany immediately see heise.de as well as YouTube videos in Heise formats.
(emw)
