Brave soz about coding snafu that sent search queries to affiliate links, insists practice is 'industry standard'

Privacy-focused browser maker Brave has responded to complaints about affiliate links by apologising for a coding error but also stating that adding affiliate links to search queries is standard practice. Users noticed an issue last week. "So when you are using the Brave browser, and type in 'binance.us' you end up getting …

[Bronek Kozicki]

First Opera, now Brave ....

I guess I just have no choice but stick with Firefox.

[JDPower]

Re: First Opera, now Brave ....

You didn't read the article did you

[mark l 2]

Re: First Opera, now Brave ....

I use FF and i have Startpage as the default search engine so Google don't get any money from my web searches. IDK if Mozilla get any money from Startpage for the traffic they send. But if they do, I don't have a problem if with that. I would rather it go to Mozilla than Google or Microsoft.

I still remember when i first started to use the internet having to buy web browsers like Netscape Navigator and it wasn't until MS came along and bundled IE with Windows for free that it forced other browser makers to also offer their software for free too as. But then they needed to find funding from other sources such as collecting private data and ads.

I think it would be hard to get people to go back to paying for web browser software unless it was an nominal fee like 99p that some apps go for

[JDPower]

Re: First Opera, now Brave ....

Startpage? That'll be the adtech owned search engine? That pays Google for results?

[Eric.R.]

Re: First Opera, now Brave ....

Agree, shame all this data slurping and telemetry has gotten out of hand. If only there was a way to go back to some simple payed model to stop our data being syphoned off. Yet they do it anyway, signed up to premium stuff or not.

Brave with their ads and suggesting affiliate links, Firefox sending browser id to tracking firms, giving browser data out numerous times (laserlike, lookingglass, cloudflare), MS Edge grabbing hardware ids..

You turn off the ads and recommends, but the data mining goes on underneath. The technology under the hood being focused on tracking and telemetry is insane, todays browser is a user data conduit wrapped up as a browser. 'Privacy' is the new 'Unlimited'.

[IGotOut]

StartPage still runs ads. Those ads work in pretty much the same way as an affiliate link I.e. they know you came from Start Page, but that is it.