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Contents10
  1. Consumer impact summary
  2. User Freedom
  3. User Privacy
  4. Business Model
  5. Market Control
  6. Incidents
  7. Affiliated links in the address bar
  8. Unverified publishers and BAT Tips
  9. See also
  10. References
Brave browser
Basic Information
Release Year 2016
Product Type
In Production Yes
Official Website https://brave.com/

Brave is a free and open source web browser based on Chromium.[1] Privacy focused by design, it comes equipped with a dedicated ad-blocker[2] that operates independently from the Chromium codebase and is therefore not subject to Google's WebExtension update.

Launched in 2016 by Brave Software, the company's business model is primarily based on ad revenue generated through its Brave Rewards Program. More broadly, it leverages its own cryptocurrency, Basic Attention Token (BAT). By opting into the Brave Rewards program, users receive occasional ad notifications on their desktop and have the option to donate BAT tokens to verified publishers, such as website owners and online creators.

Consumer impact summary

This section is incomplete. This notice can be deleted once all the placeholder text has been replaced.

Overview of concerns that arise from the conduct towards users of the product (if applicable):

User Freedom

User Privacy

Business Model

Market Control

Incidents

Main Article: Brave puts affiliated links in the address bar

In June 2020, it was discovered that when users typed 'binance.us' into the address bar, they were suggested the URL 'binance.us/en?ref=35089877', which included a referral code for Brave Software, Inc. Brave's founder and CEO, Brendan Eich, apologized and referred to the incident as a 'mistake'. The fix was shipped in stable release v1.9.80 on June 8, 2020.

Unverified publishers and BAT Tips

Before 2020, the Brave Rewards panel misled users by not clearly indicating whether the content creator they intended to tip was a verified publisher and, therefore, able to receive the BAT sent to them. This led users to believe that the publishers they tipped had received the funds, even if they had not.[3]

While Brave claims that all BAT purchased by users is held indefinitely until claimed by the publisher, this does not necessarily apply to BAT acquired through other means, such as promotional tokens gifted by Brave.[4]

Following the controversy, an update was implemented to clearly indicate in Brave whether a publisher was unaffiliated with the platform. Initially, tips sent to unverified creators were returned to the user after 90 days if unclaimed. This policy was later changed to completely prevent users from tipping unverified creators.[1]


See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Brave browser source code https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/
  2. ↑ Brave rust based ad blocker source code https://github.com/brave/adblock-rust
  3. ↑ Eich, Brendan (2020-06-06). "We made a mistake, we're correcting: Brave default autocompletes verbatim "binance.us" in address bar to add an affiliate code". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  4. ↑ cryptonator1337 (2020-06-06). "So when you are using the @brave browser and type in "binance.us" you end up getting redirected to "binance.us/en?ref=35089877" - I see what you did there mates". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-06-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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