5 ms·

They are an adtech company. That should be all we need to know, right? I'm willing to change my mind, so far it doesn't make sense to use Brave.

eredengrin 6y ago
> That should be all we need to know, right? Not really, their whole proposition is to do ads in a privacy respecting way, and you always have the option to just turn them off entirely. The payments model they have for websites is my favorite thing about the browser and I'd love to see more models like it catch on. Giving the ability to easily fund content creators by just filling up your wallet periodically (without having to view ads if you don't want) is a great idea. Perhaps the execution leaves something to be desired, but I wish people would at least discuss the important ideas it brings rather than simply dismiss it as an evil browser and recommend Firefox + ublock origin (which, while a good temporary solution, is ultimately just kicking the can down the road and doesn't do a whole lot to solve the root issues).
- john-shaffer 6y ago
  > you always have the option to just turn them off entirely This is not fully accurate. You have to explicitly find and enable ads if you want them. They are off by default.
  - eredengrin 6y ago
    Thanks for the correction. I like the idea of what Brave does, but I'm too reliant on some Firefox features (tree style tabs + containers) so I don't actually use it myself and sometimes get it a bit wrong.
- kirubakaran 6y ago
  Hmm, that's a good point. I wish a non-adtech company created a "pay publishers" tool.
basch 6y ago
Its a very different ad tech company. Not only is it opt in, but all the ad matching happens locally. 1) The browser periodically downloads an ad catalog (signal in, no signal out). 2) The browser now holds (1) the ad catalog (with some targeting keywords and terms set by advertisers); (2) your browsing history. 3) It then matches the ads from the catalog against your browsing history.
- justapassenger 6y ago
  4) They're actually adware
  - basch 6y ago
    An opt-in feature to have your notification center fill with ads, and be paid for it. Currently its not hard to get $10/m.

eredengrin 6y ago

> That should be all we need to know, right? Not really, their whole proposition is to do ads in a privacy respecting way, and you always have the option to just turn them off entirely. The payments model they have for websites is my favorite thing about the browser and I'd love to see more models like it catch on. Giving the ability to easily fund content creators by just filling up your wallet periodically (without having to view ads if you don't want) is a great idea. Perhaps the execution leaves something to be desired, but I wish people would at least discuss the important ideas it brings rather than simply dismiss it as an evil browser and recommend Firefox + ublock origin (which, while a good temporary solution, is ultimately just kicking the can down the road and doesn't do a whole lot to solve the root issues).

john-shaffer 6y ago
> you always have the option to just turn them off entirely This is not fully accurate. You have to explicitly find and enable ads if you want them. They are off by default.
- eredengrin 6y ago
  Thanks for the correction. I like the idea of what Brave does, but I'm too reliant on some Firefox features (tree style tabs + containers) so I don't actually use it myself and sometimes get it a bit wrong.
kirubakaran 6y ago
Hmm, that's a good point. I wish a non-adtech company created a "pay publishers" tool.

basch 6y ago

Its a very different ad tech company. Not only is it opt in, but all the ad matching happens locally. 1) The browser periodically downloads an ad catalog (signal in, no signal out). 2) The browser now holds (1) the ad catalog (with some targeting keywords and terms set by advertisers); (2) your browsing history. 3) It then matches the ads from the catalog against your browsing history.

justapassenger 6y ago
4) They're actually adware
- basch 6y ago
  An opt-in feature to have your notification center fill with ads, and be paid for it. Currently its not hard to get $10/m.