What is the Brave browser all about? A hit with the privacy-minded crowd, Brave, which launched in 2016, is known for its cloaking features, ad blocking, and crypto advertising rewards program.
Like Google’s Chrome, it’s built on the Chromium platform. But unlike Chrome, Brave runs smoother and faster because it doesn’t allow cross-site tracking. It also maintains two rewards programs for users and publishers.
So is Brave something your small business should be looking into using? Let’s take a look.
How Many People Use Brave?
At the end of last year, Brave announced it had about 3 million active daily users. That’s a fraction of a fraction compared to Google, which clocks 60,000 users per second. However, the new browser is steadily growing in popularity.
Who Uses the Brave Browser?
Brave is a niche browser, and its users are a coveted demographic: highly tech-savvy individuals with enough industry insight and affluence to know it exists. The typical Brave user is likely an engineer, software developer, blockchain programmer, trader, or tech entrepreneur — a heady cabal of folks that many advertisers would love to reach.
How Is Brave So Private?
To make online browsing as private as possible, Brave implemented several features, including:
- Forced secured connections
- Tracker and cookie blockers
- Obfuscation tweaks to prevent “browser fingerprinting”
Brave, however, doesn’t block first-party cookies. So, for example, if someone pulls up Google on Brave, they’ll see the ads that show up in the Search Engine Result Pages, aka SERPs.
What is the Brave Rewards Program?
Brave runs two rewards programs. One for individuals and the other for publishers (i.e., websites). The former can rack up points for opting to view “privacy-respecting” ads; the latter earns via Brave’s “attention” matrix. Essentially, websites registered with the program get paid (with crypto) for people visiting their sites, aka “giving it attention.” The browser company explains it like this:
“For example, if you spend 5% of your time on brave.com in a given month, then the browser will assign roughly 5% of your attention to brave.com in your Auto-Contribute table. When it is time to make your monthly Auto-Contribute contribution, Brave Rewards will divide your monthly budget according to these percentages.”
Should You Consider Using the Brave Browser?
Should you consider using Brave? If you’re concerned about privacy and surveillance, then it’s worth a shot. But caveat emptor: Brave does not save login credentials. So if you’re someone who relies on the auto-fill username and password feature in traditional browsers, Brave may not be the option for you.
Small businesses may also want to consider Brave’s rewards and advertising programs. It’s not a goldmine now, but the platform’s future holds lots of potential since more and more people are becoming more and more concerned with their digital footprints and online privacy.
How Can I Learn More About Digital Privacy and Diversifying Income Streams for My Small Business?
Digital privacy should be of the utmost concern to small businesses. If you don’t know where to start or simply have a few questions, let’s talk.
My name is Aaron Kelly, an attorney-turned-business-consultant. For years, I’ve leveraged my legal background and entrepreneurial know-how to help businesses navigate today’s wired landscape.
I develop digital privacy action plans and show companies how to save money in the event of a data breach (link). I also walk businesses through the required post-hack notification process and show them ways to diversify revenue streams with new profit-generating techniques.
Get in touch today. Let’s talk about how to maximize your security and profit.
