The Brave Browser – Making the Internet A Better Place to Be

by Mae Demdam, Guest Contributor

The most hotly talked about development in the Internet today is the new Brave Browser. What sets it apart is its ability to filter out what it calls the “greed and ugliness on the Web”, removing the numerous ads that slow down sites and track a user’s every online move. It then puts clean, non-tracking ads back that in turn funnel income to website owners and a small amount to browser users.

The Brave Browser strives to solve the Internet’s biggest problem – the abundance of ads that track users. Brave removes all the ads that users usually encounter – the same ones that more and more users are blocking with ad blocker software. Is Brave the answer – or too good to be true?

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​Privacy and The Internet

Today, the reality is that consumers are more tracked and documented than at any other time in history. The “Big Brother” that so many feared short decades ago is now here in the form of marketing companies that track consumers through cookies and a variety of other online methods. 

​Not convinced? Do a quick search for something completely out of the ordinary for you. 

In no time, you will find that the ads on your web browser, and even in Facebook, are full of what you searched for. That customized advertising is thanks to the tracking used by advertisers today.

In the 2015 PageFair and Adobe Ad Blocking Report, research showed that 198 million Internet users worldwide use ad blockers and that use is steadily increasing. Consumers are concerned that their personal information may be misused, and are overwhelmed by an increase in ads. The increased concern has paved the way for the development of a browser like Brave, one that takes user privacy seriously. In fact, many have expressed surprise that it has taken this long for better options in privacy to be developed.

Response Is Mixed

While response to the announcement of the launch of Brave has been met with excitement by many, there are also some skeptics who doubt that the new browser is a good thing. Those happy with the new concept praised the concept of improved privacy and online safety as well as faster browsing. Some of the negative feedback questioned the legality of the business model and whether it is even possible to protect the privacy of consumers while allowing advertising.

Questions Remain

While the founder of Brave, former CEO of Mozilla, Brendan Eich, answers many questions about the new concept on the Brave FAQ page, there are still questions that remain. How will the company prove that it is preserving privacy while still offering advertising? How will it handle a possible future invention that blocks the Brave user from accessing sites?

​Having just launched an early version of the browser, Brave is sure to tackle these and many other questions and problems in subsequent versions. In the meantime, users can be amongst the first to enjoy the benefits of faster browsing, with better privacy than any other browser today can offer.

Mae Demdam is a contributing author for WireSeek.com as well as a freelance writer for a variety of brands. She's a creative thinker, innovator and deeply interested in the digital marketing space. Follow her on Twitter at @maedemdam!

IMAGE CREDIT: EDGE EARTH