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Brave launches private search ads

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Re: Brave launches private search ads

#31

Post by sph »

p0pcult wrote: post #16
rabuse wrote: post #12

Everything free, becomes ad-infested. Nothing is free, and it's really annoying seeing company after company make empty promises about privacy and "being different", then switching up when their investors start breathing down their necks. Just be honest from the start.

At this point, it's not just free things that are becoming infested.

Yeah, they're so ubiquitous people have gotten used to them. Companies have learned that if you put ads in paid products, people grumble and moan but still keep paying for your product.

The future is ads everywhere, paid or free, doesn't matter. More revenue out of every user with little effort, shareholders love this stuff.

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#33

Post by derefr »

paulcole wrote: post #18
pocketarc wrote: post #13

Ads seem to be a modern virus that infects everything. Everyone who claims "no ads", eventually turns their back on that once they get big enough, even companies with more than enough money from their own products (e.g. Apple, Netflix). I've never seen anything so powerful. I guess it comes down to "no business would say no to free money", but it really is incredible.

Did Apple or Brave ever say “no ads”? In the case of Brave (and every business), somebody’s got to hand money to someone in order to keep the lights on.

Brave (the browser) has a built-in ad-blocker, the existence of which could be taken as an implicit stance by its creators on how they feel about ads.

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#34

Post by prmoustache »

musk_micropenis wrote: post #20

A lot of angry comments in here, but the post says there's an ad-free paid version, > 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 Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is? Or do you expect software companies to work for free? (Presumably not the companies you work for).

Where? I don't see any account management in https://search.brave.com/

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#35

Post by derefr »

prmoustache wrote: post #34
musk_micropenis wrote: post #20

A lot of angry comments in here, but the post says there's an ad-free paid version, > 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 Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is? Or do you expect software companies to work for free? (Presumably not the companies you work for).

Where? I don't see any account management in https://search.brave.com/

Following the link from TFA (under "Search Premium") leads to https://account.brave.com/?intent=checkout&product=search

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#36

Post by squarefoot »

pocketarc wrote: post #13

Ads seem to be a modern virus that infects everything. Everyone who claims "no ads", eventually turns their back on that once they get big enough, even companies with more than enough money from their own products (e.g. Apple, Netflix). I've never seen anything so powerful. I guess it comes down to "no business would say no to free money", but it really is incredible.

The market eventually became saturated with products and services; today there are a lot more of them than pockets that can or will purchase them, therefore they fight to occupy the spots where people can notice them first, knowing that whoever comes after won't sell. This is a train wreck waiting to happen since there are no signs that it could self-limit in the immediate future; products and services sellers will eventually fight for every possible still free space to put ads into and win potential users attention; it will simply become worse and worse, unless someone invents consumerism with some limits built in, which in today's culture is deeply frowned upon.

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#37

Post by trs8080 »

rabuse wrote: post #30
spaniard89277 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have a paid option. It's paying or ads. Running a search engine is not free. Somebody has to pay for it.

That's not the problem. The problem is they sold their service as one thing, and then completely switch on the users down the line, instead of being honest upfront.

It was free, so they never sold it and nobody ever bought it. Companies often times need to pivot or introduce pricing to their products to survive. Would rather pay a modest fee to ensure that Brave continues as an alternative to the major browsers vs them running out of money and shutting down.

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#38

Post by smt88 »

derefr wrote: post #33
paulcole wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did Apple or Brave ever say “no ads”? In the case of Brave (and every business), somebody’s got to hand money to someone in order to keep the lights on.

Brave (the browser) has a built-in ad-blocker, the existence of which could be taken as an implicit stance by its creators on how they feel about ads.

> an implicit stance by its creators on how they feel about ads

Like Apple and AdBlock, the stance is that they want to sell their own ads in the spaces where they're blocking other people's

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#39

Post by musk_micropenis »

derefr wrote: post #29
musk_micropenis wrote: post #20

A lot of angry comments in here, but the post says there's an ad-free paid version, > 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 Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is? Or do you expect software companies to work for free? (Presumably not the companies you work for).

Some users — possibly Brave's core target audience — might complain that there's no way to remain anonymous in this flow: either you allow Brave to leak your info to advertisers, or you allow Brave to leak your info to Stripe in the payment flow. There's (currently) no way to pay for a Brave Premium account with crypto or through any other anonymous mechanism.

> either you allow Brave to leak your info to advertisers

Can you expand on this? According to the article the ads are privacy-preserving but I'm open to hearing otherwise. There's not a lot of detail in the article.

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#40

Post by bogwog »

thijser wrote: post #5
dhaavi wrote: post #3

Their example screenshot shows their own VPN as the first result for "VPN". Reminds me of this other search engine.

The "other" search engine (you mean Google with Google maps/shopping recommendations etc. right?) didn't buy ads in its own system competing on a level playing field with competitors, but created new space for its own products that was inaccessible to any competitors. In other words, Brave seems to be doing the right thing here by promoting its own products in the same way that any competing product can.

Don't assume good intentions when malice is equally likely... at least in this technology world we live in. Companies that are actually on the user's side are very rare, so you're more likely to be correct (and safe) by never giving tech companies the benefit of the doubt.
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