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Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

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Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#241

Post by lmm »

derefr wrote: post #223
lmm wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (For anyone who's ever tried to modify a reservation, the difference is astonishing. If you're booked with the hotel, all kinds of adjustments are at least possible. If you're booked with Booking, Travelocity, Expedia, etc., it's somewhere between hard and hopeless.) That's utterly backwards IME. On Booking.com, most modifications are the push of a button (that, crucially, is right there in the UI that I already kn…

I think you're talking about common modifications that the booking website understands how to make via the hotel's API. The GP, meanwhile, is talking about completely arbitrary stuff that is not part of any booking services's data schema for "modifiable properties of a booking"—and also, where the hotel likely doesn't actually have an API, because it's just some family-run thing, and the booking website is maybe just…

> If you book through a booking website, and then you speak to the booking agent to make such a modification, they will have no ability to add the note to your booking in the hotel's computer in such a way that the staff will take it seriously; nor even, necessarily, the ability to confirm that that modification is something that the hotel can do for you. (They can call the hotel... but they're just as likely to be brushed off as you are.)

Being able to write a message and have them get back to me (even if all they're doing behind the scenes is calling the hotel) is a much better UX than having to make a phone call during business hours, particularly when there's a language barrier.

> If you book through a booking website, and then you speak to the hotel, they will tell you that they can't help you, because they want to charge you more, but they don't have the ability to charge you anything, since they're not billing you; they're billing the booking agency. And the booking agency itself has no way for a hotel to add an SKU for this kind of customization. (If it did, it'd be abused by unscrupulous hotels.) They'll then tell you that they can fix your problem if they cancel your agency booking and then re-book it through the hotel itself... but in so doing, you might not be able to keep your reservation.

> If you book through the hotel, you can just speak with the hotel, and enter into whatever private direct customer-to-business deals you like with them to negotiate whatever kind of special service you want from them.

Meh, that seems like a bullshit excuse to me. If they're selling me some special add-on service, surely they can bill me for it independently of my booking. If I'm already going to the trouble of calling them (ugh), having to give my credit card details separately is not making that a whole lot worse.

Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#242

Post by gregw134 »

bogtog wrote: post #108

Sadly didn't pass my test, looking up sports info like "UFC Schedule" and getting a custom built interface. For example, Google's: https://www.google.com/search?q=ufc+schedule&rlz=1C1GCEU_en&... Bing's (doesn't have UFC Schedules but has "NFL Standings"): https://www.bing.com/search?q=NFL+standings&qs=n&form=QBRE&s...

To be fair, Google has product teams which has custom built components for different search verticals. I wouldn't expect this of a small search company.

Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#243

Post by crossroadsguy »

lmm wrote: post #221
GCA10 wrote: post #26

Just started testing Brave Search, and it scored a rare 100 on the first test: If you type in the name of a favorite boutique hotel, will you get that hotel's true website -- or the usual hairball of third-party intermediaries? (For anyone who's ever tried to modify a reservation, the difference is astonishing. If you're booked with the hotel, all kinds of adjustments are at least possible. If you're booked with Book…

> (For anyone who's ever tried to modify a reservation, the difference is astonishing. If you're booked with the hotel, all kinds of adjustments are at least possible. If you're booked with Booking, Travelocity, Expedia, etc., it's somewhere between hard and hopeless.) That's utterly backwards IME. On Booking.com, most modifications are the push of a button (that, crucially, is right there in the UI that I already kn…

Not true. But I won’t discuss that.

Here’s something else — the most critical part of a booking — the booking itself. Go talk to third party aggregator chat bot when you realise you don’t even have a booking that you booked.

4-5 days later if you’re lucky you’ll receive an apology email if you’re lucky, which mentions that they do not want you have that experience and they’ve send it for feedback to the relevant team.

I rarely book hotels via third party aggregators now. Either direct or I use my employee’s travel assistance parter portal where I have same protections as my work travel just that I’ll have to pay from my pockets.

Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#244

Post by lmm »

crossroadsguy wrote: post #243
lmm wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (For anyone who's ever tried to modify a reservation, the difference is astonishing. If you're booked with the hotel, all kinds of adjustments are at least possible. If you're booked with Booking, Travelocity, Expedia, etc., it's somewhere between hard and hopeless.) That's utterly backwards IME. On Booking.com, most modifications are the push of a button (that, crucially, is right there in the UI that I already kn…

Not true. But I won’t discuss that. Here’s something else — the most critical part of a booking — the booking itself. Go talk to third party aggregator chat bot when you realise you don’t even have a booking that you booked. 4-5 days later if you’re lucky you’ll receive an apology email if you’re lucky, which mentions that they do not want you have that experience and they’ve send it for feedback to the relevant team…

Again that's the opposite of my experience. If I've booked on Booking.com my booking is right there, on their website and in my inbox. If I book directly with the hotel, do I have a booking? Uh, maybe. Roll of the dice when I show up.

Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#245

Post by jjeaff »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #240
q7xvh97o2pDhNrh wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that Booking.com/Expedia/etc can't be trusted to book a real reservation. You never know if they're overbooking a hotel (and indeed I've been bitten by this multiple times). By booking with the actual hotel's web site, you at least know you have a room. If the price of that certainty is a little bit of extra UX friction (or making a phone call, which I'll soon be able to delegate to an AI anyway), that…

overbooking / "I've been bitten by this multiple times": Did you arrive and the hotel didn't have any spare rooms? What happened next? I have never once heard of such a thing. And you said multiple times . What kinds of hotels are these???

I use hotwire maybe a few times a year and it has happened twice to me that the hotel they claimed was booked did not have the reservation. Most 3rd party booking sites don't have real time access to inventory, so if you book close to the same time that someone books direct, you can easily end up overbooked.

I think in the first case, they gave me a refund and I rebooked another through hotwire last minute. In the other case, the area was very booked up and I had to pay double to get a comparable room. So I had to send hotwire the invoice and they refunded the rate plus enough to cover the more expensive option. Both times was a huge inconvenience but that is sort of the price you pay for cheap 3rd party bookings.

Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#246

Post by rjh29 »

lmm wrote: post #221
GCA10 wrote: post #26

Just started testing Brave Search, and it scored a rare 100 on the first test: If you type in the name of a favorite boutique hotel, will you get that hotel's true website -- or the usual hairball of third-party intermediaries? (For anyone who's ever tried to modify a reservation, the difference is astonishing. If you're booked with the hotel, all kinds of adjustments are at least possible. If you're booked with Book…

> (For anyone who's ever tried to modify a reservation, the difference is astonishing. If you're booked with the hotel, all kinds of adjustments are at least possible. If you're booked with Booking, Travelocity, Expedia, etc., it's somewhere between hard and hopeless.) That's utterly backwards IME. On Booking.com, most modifications are the push of a button (that, crucially, is right there in the UI that I already kn…

In Japan booking.com is often more flexible than the original website (e.g. offering free cancellation, not having to phone)

Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#247

Post by rjh29 »

GCA10 wrote: post #26

Just started testing Brave Search, and it scored a rare 100 on the first test: If you type in the name of a favorite boutique hotel, will you get that hotel's true website -- or the usual hairball of third-party intermediaries? (For anyone who's ever tried to modify a reservation, the difference is astonishing. If you're booked with the hotel, all kinds of adjustments are at least possible. If you're booked with Book…

I respect your experience, but third-party sites are cheaper than the true website and hotels refuse to match it even if you ask them. Even if adjustments are easier (and in my experience Booking.com has been fine), it doesn't offset the price difference.

I stay in hotels a lot though, if you travel occasionally and on special occasions I can absolutely understand.

Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#248

Post by crossroadsguy »

toomanyusers wrote: post #194
bazmattaz wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, my test of a search engine’s ability to return relevant results is usually some sort of obscure search for tech help like; “Best way to modify the xyz on a raspberry pi 4” I stopped using DuckDuckGo because it always failed at searches like this compared to Google. Brave was ok

I stopped using DuckDuckGo when it introduced its email relay service. This service had (and I think still does have) the peculiar requirement that the user must install a browser extension in order to use it. I can think of no valid reason why a (supposedly privacy-respecting) email relay service should require a browser extension to be installed. This made me realize DuckDuckGo may not actually value privacy. I sto…

Companies like DDG and Apple don’t do privacy. They do privacy theatre. Just that Apple is too big with too much of a PR/marketing budget and has an ultra/rabidly loyal fanbase so it works for them.

There are companies that do privacy but they’re usually too small to be noticed outside the crowd of extremely privacy conscious people.

Mozila is a famous one though. Yup, even after their Pocket fiasco and some more I do believe they try to real and long term privacy. DDG is just hustling to stand apart and then maybe hope for a financial exit. (Have had a really bad experience with the company, other than using their product - their search is unusable though - that told me they do not have a respectable culture as an organisation either).

Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#249

Post by rjh29 »

crossroadsguy wrote: post #243
lmm wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (For anyone who's ever tried to modify a reservation, the difference is astonishing. If you're booked with the hotel, all kinds of adjustments are at least possible. If you're booked with Booking, Travelocity, Expedia, etc., it's somewhere between hard and hopeless.) That's utterly backwards IME. On Booking.com, most modifications are the push of a button (that, crucially, is right there in the UI that I already kn…

Not true. But I won’t discuss that. Here’s something else — the most critical part of a booking — the booking itself. Go talk to third party aggregator chat bot when you realise you don’t even have a booking that you booked. 4-5 days later if you’re lucky you’ll receive an apology email if you’re lucky, which mentions that they do not want you have that experience and they’ve send it for feedback to the relevant team…

If your hotel double books you, they're out of rooms and can't help. If Booking.com double books you, they can pull strings to give you a different room in any hotel on their site (and they do). I don't doubt you had that experience personally, but it doesn't match my experience at all, and I spend 1/3 of my life in hotels.

Re: Every web search result in Brave Search is now served by our own index

#250

Post by scubadude »

rvz wrote: post #29
pachico wrote: post #4

Just the fastest and most ergonomic browser I've tried. I wish Firefox was like Brave, to be honest. Until that happens, I'll stick to Brave for both mobile and desktop.

The Mozilla CEO is to blame for the chaos they caused around Firefox, and them losing market share to Chrome for the past 14 years. Mozilla is so dysfunctional that the CEO is rewarded a massive bonus for running the company to the ground and laying off their employees. They are not interested in competing against Chrome; instead they are chronically dependent on Google's money and on life support, making over 80% of…

4% share according to our Google Analytics (higher education). Of course, FF users might be more likely to run an adblocker that blocks GA, but either way it's a pretty dire figure.

It seems we're all relying on Apple/Safari to provide that Chromium alternative.

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