Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Brave launches private search ads

brave.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 299 posts

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#101

Post by SeanAnderson »

skinnymuch wrote: post #96
satvikpendem wrote: post #74

After all the Brave controversies [0] I'm not sure why anyone uses Brave anymore. They took creators' money while ostensibly "collecting" it for them, and they inserted their own affiliate links when you visited certain sites. It's just shady behavior all around. I mean, when you have your own "Controversies" section on Wikipedia, you know there's something wrong. Especially with Manifest v3 looming which would kill…

Will manifest 3 really kill modern ad blockers? Like adguard and ublock won’t work as they do now in some upcoming Blink/Chromium version?

They will work but not as well.

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#102

Post by satvikpendem »

skinnymuch wrote: post #96
satvikpendem wrote: post #74

After all the Brave controversies [0] I'm not sure why anyone uses Brave anymore. They took creators' money while ostensibly "collecting" it for them, and they inserted their own affiliate links when you visited certain sites. It's just shady behavior all around. I mean, when you have your own "Controversies" section on Wikipedia, you know there's something wrong. Especially with Manifest v3 looming which would kill…

Will manifest 3 really kill modern ad blockers? Like adguard and ublock won’t work as they do now in some upcoming Blink/Chromium version?

That is correct. The creator of uBlock Origin, gorhill, made a post about it [0], and uBlock Origin actually works better in Firefox than in other browsers apparently [1].

[0] https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues/338#iss...

[1] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/uBlock-Origin-works-b...

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#104

Post by puchatek »

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.

And what was the thing you thought you were buying?

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#105

Post by travisgriggs »

This statement (second paragraph)

> Ads are a key part of search engines, helping to facilitate the free and open exchange of information on the Web, and to connect users to helpful products and services related to their search terms.

Is just non sequitur for me. It's said in such a smooth way, in such a gaslight-ish way, that your tempted to just accept it.

But it actually makes no sense to me. I get what ads are key to: revenue, keeping the lights on, that sort of thing. But I don't see how they increase the free and open exchange of information on the web. If I sat down with a troubled couple who was having a hard time communicating, I wouldn't periodically interrupt and say "let's pause a moment for an ad. I think that's going to really open up a better and more free exchange between the both of you."

I also don't understand how it is helpful in helping me connect to products and services in a helpful way. An index (yellow pages) of what's available would help me search for a product. A rating system that wasn't gamed might help me make a selection that was best for me. But ads? We inherently distrust that we're being swayed/manipulated by them. I need to update the insulation in my attic, so I'm in the market to get some newer insulation. To wit, I've called a number of people I know who are in the insulation/builder business to get their information. Not a single one said "well, here's my opinion, but what you really need to do is check the ads, they're going to be your best source of information about how to proceed."

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#106

Post by vorticalbox »

sph wrote: post #31
p0pcult wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I recently installed windows 10 on my Linux box and the amount of ads in the start menu was shocking.

Though I guess it's no different than dvds having ads after you paid for them.

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#107

Post by titzer »

btbuildem wrote: post #72
siverson914 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Craigslist has done a pretty good job resisting this.

Craigslist isn't free -- there are certain categories (like job postings in some areas) that are paid. This subsidizes the entire service. Craigslist has indeed done very, very well. They've maintained a useful service, ad-free, for decades. Made a ton of money doing it, too.

Their secret is they did not try to grow at an insane rate. They have 50 employees and over $650 million in revenue. The revenue per employee is over $13 million.

The reason the giants are giant is because they are driven to become giant by people and investors who want to become billionaires.

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#108

Post by hunterb123 »

iLoveOncall wrote: post #15
prepend wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What problems do you have that gotten worse? I don’t use Brave search very much but it seems equivalent to duck duck go and its results are ok.

By "product" I meant the whole Brave ecosystem actually.

Okay what problems in the whole ecosystem do you mean?

You stated your opinion, but you forgot to add your reasoning.

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#109

Post by hunterb123 »

travisgriggs wrote: post #105

This statement (second paragraph) > Ads are a key part of search engines, helping to facilitate the free and open exchange of information on the Web, and to connect users to helpful products and services related to their search terms. Is just non sequitur for me. It's said in such a smooth way, in such a gaslight-ish way, that your tempted to just accept it. But it actually makes no sense to me. I get what ads are ke…

You've never opened a newspaper up to the classifieds? Those are ads.

You may not know of a tree cutting service until you look there.

You may not know where to get a car part until you look there.

Having ads riddled throughout the internet is one thing, but having a directory where ads are supposed to be is another.

Yes billboards are annoying, that doesn't make classifieds equal.

(oh and you could just pay $3/mo or not use the service if you have no use for classifieds)

Re: Brave launches private search ads

#110

Post by supermatt »

mind-blight wrote: post #52
ohCh6zos wrote: post #9

If you haven't checked out Kagi, it has been a pleasure to use.

They seem really cool. But, I was reading the FAQ, and they claim it costs about $1 to process 80 searches. That seems extremely high. I would have expected that the up-front cost of creating and storing indexes is very expensive, but the cost of user searches to be so low that they're nearly negligible. Okay, it sounds like they lose money with each new added user

They are using google custom search and Bing search apis. They cost about ~$5 per 1000 queries - so thats 40c on the dollar already for those 80 queries. Thats just for a single "behind the scenes" query - and they sometimes perform multiple subqueries based on your "lens" configuration which inflates the cost further.

They also have their own infra and team to support.

I wouldnt call myself a search engine poweruser, but based on my usage, they are definitely losing money on those subscriptions.

Post reply on HN