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I'm really annoyed by how much Brave Search is pushing AI (pawb.social)

submitted 5 months ago by Interstellar_1@pawb.social to c/mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world

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I've been using Brave Search supplemented by Startpage for the past 2+ years. When I search for something, I want to get results for credible webpages, not a summary of unknown quality. I liked the previous AI inclusion because it was instant, didn't take up much space, and I could quickly navigate to the websites referenced in it, but with the new feature it takes up more space, is slower, and not really what I want out of a search engine.

As soon as the feature was rolled out I disabled it in settings, but the AI button stays visible, I get autocomplete specifically for Answer with AI and I get frequent notifications to try out the new AI feature. An opt-out toggle should not mean that I still am pestered to use the feature I opted out of.

This is really annoying, and I'm probably going to end up switching to Startpage or SearXNG or something.

Some images (opted out of AI features):

all 48 comments

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[-] const_void@lemmy.ml 110 points 5 months ago

Lol, people are using Brave?!

[-] best_username_ever@sh.itjust.works 53 points 5 months ago

I tried it a long time ago and found out that they were injecting links to their shitcoins inside the web pages. Like, additional links in some web sites.

I’m still dumbfounded that there was not more protests about it because it should never happen.

[-] maniel@sopuli.xyz 4 points 5 months ago

yeah, just donate buttons, you can donate your shitcoin to the creator, just that, can be disabled probably

[-] Hahah_Montana@lemmy.wtf 21 points 5 months ago

That just means it shouldn't have been enabled in the first place.

[-] maniel@sopuli.xyz 3 points 5 months ago

It's just an interface element suggesting their product, I don't find it that intrusive for having to be an opt in option

[-] magnor@lemmy.magnor.ovh 88 points 5 months ago

Yet another reason why people shouldn't be using Brave.

[-] tourist@lemmy.world 20 points 5 months ago

If you want a privacy-focused web browser, use Firefox or Vivaldi.

I thought Vivaldi was also shady? Did I maybe confuse it with Opera?

[-] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 20 points 5 months ago

Probably.

Opera is shady. Vivaldi is developed by the people who used to develop Opera, back when it was its own thing and before it sold out to Chinese investors.

[-] cloudless@lemmy.cafe 11 points 5 months ago

Vivaldi is closed-source. Can it be trusted?

[-] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 17 points 5 months ago

I dunno. Everything I've seen and heard seems perfectly legit.

But it's yet another chromium fork, and I don't use it.

I did for a while, as it has some very nice features, but it would consistently open without resuming my session. It would work for months and then just out of nowhere it would open up as if it was just installed. Everything gone. Utterly unacceptable.

[-] magnor@lemmy.magnor.ovh 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

~~I don't think you're replying to my comment though, I never mentioned nor used Vivaldi.~~

Edit: brainfart, my bad.

[-] SaltySalamander@fedia.io 9 points 5 months ago

Did you read what you linked? That's what they're quoting.

[-] magnor@lemmy.magnor.ovh 4 points 5 months ago

Vivaldi slipped my mind, my bad. No need for that tone though.

[-] tourist@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Don't stress over it. I didn't read the entire thing either. It's a relatively long article.

I Read the first few paragraphs and then when the ADHD kicked in I skim scrolled all the way to the bottom where "Vivaldi" caught my eye

[-] magnor@lemmy.magnor.ovh 2 points 5 months ago

Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated and have a great day.

On topic, I have no opinion on Vivaldi, never used it. But then again I've been on Firefox for the last 15 years so... I'm a bit of a lost cause!

[-] Interstellar_1@pawb.social 4 points 5 months ago

I used it because the results were better for me then the other search engines I have used, but yeah I don't agree with anything the company or it's CEO is doing, so there's no better time to stop it then.

[-] magnor@lemmy.magnor.ovh 2 points 5 months ago

Yeah that's the issue with them, their products are not that bad at first glance and they have a lot of evangelists online (it was particularly egregious on reddit but it is still the case here). I wasn't throwing any shade at you.

Search engines pretty much all suck nowadays. I've stuck with DDG lately, but they also have their issues apparently.

[-] Carighan@lemmy.world 57 points 5 months ago

Well it's Brave. They have always pulled shitty shit like this in the past, like rerouting clicks in the background to siphon ad impressions income or pushing crypto scams left and right and center.

[-] herrcaptain@lemmy.ca 51 points 5 months ago

Welcome to everything this year. Seemingly every app in the world is jumping on the bandwagon, and some are more egregious than others. I swear if Elementor (WordPress editor) mentions AI again I'm gonna uninstall it in every site I have access to.

[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 20 points 5 months ago

I'm really annoyed how everyone is pushing AI. It's so far not as big a deal as they make it out to be.

[-] Snapz@lemmy.world 18 points 5 months ago

Brave sucks and the people behind brave suck.

Stop expecting anything valuable from the "crypto" browser

[-] isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca 13 points 5 months ago

Brendan Eich is a piece of shit

[-] Interstellar_1@pawb.social 3 points 5 months ago

indeed

[-] felixwhynot@lemmy.world 11 points 5 months ago

Suggest you use DDG, no AI crap from them so far…

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago

DDG sold out and allowed trackers on the mobile app. It's a slow slide but it's inevitable

[-] felixwhynot@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago

I use the web site through Firefox Focus, I’m happy with that combo.

Then again I also have a pi-hole on my network so… Yeah

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

pi-holes can't stop websites you use from collecting your data. they've already started accepting cash for things (by way of mobile browser.). it's only a matter of time before it slides into more things- if it hasn't already.

currently I'm using start-page and it's good enough for my needs. The advantage there is they're in the EU, and have enhanced privacy requirements

Edit: I’ve used Firefox since their first beta. Now I feel old…

[-] Rozauhtuno 5 points 5 months ago

They also have AI, but it's opt-in.

[-] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago

Yeah, except this is what I get when trying to search for anything on DDG right now:

[-] Interstellar_1@pawb.social 3 points 5 months ago

Bing is/was down

[-] lurch@sh.itjust.works 10 points 5 months ago

I'm trying SearXNG at the moment. Seems better and faster then all others so far.

Before that I tried gibiru.com and mojeek.com but wasn't satisfied with results or indexes.

[-] Mojeek@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 months ago

do you remember any of the queries for which you were not satisfied? We're always looking to improve

[-] lurch@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 months ago

sorry, most are too private to post them here, but an exception was:

MySQL RAND

I expected to find the actual manual page from dev.mysql.com , but it wasn't even in the first few pages.

[-] Mojeek@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 months ago

sorry for taking a while to get back, raising this one on our feedback board; if you have any others there is a submit feedback button on the results pages you can use to just send it our way, not post it on a forum 🙏

[-] lars@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 5 months ago

I just started and I’m so much more satisfied than I have been with other non-Googles.

I have always wanted to like DDG but their results weren’t awesome for me (and it didn’t help that I hate their name, but wasn’t a deciding factor).

[-] eezeebee@lemmy.ca 9 points 5 months ago

All my Brave Bucks just magically disappeared. Screw 'em

[-] woelkchen@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago

So you were fine with Brave before when they scammed others?

Brave has always been despicable.

[-] eezeebee@lemmy.ca 4 points 5 months ago

I have no stance because I don't know what you are talking about.

[-] TheTechNerd@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Hot take I like it a bit, but it is pushed hard. It is nice to have an option for AI not through MS. It is not great for privacy but I far far trust them than MS. It is the lesser of two evils. Sometimes you just want an answer instead of clicking one thousand links. I think the first time you use it they should you give the option to have it on and off isntead of forcing it.

[-] dvdnet62@feddit.nl 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

google web search workaround is fine atm https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/get-google-search-results-without-ai-ads-or-anything-but-links/

[-] ultratiem@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 months ago

Just a technical correction but it’s not Brave, it’s MS and Bing that’s shoving these AI “features” down your throat. Brave is just doing what they are told.

[-] Interstellar_1@pawb.social 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

How is it bing that's doing that if this is a service provided by brave? Even if their liscense required copilot to be implemented, I would think that opting out isn't something that bing regulates

[-] ultratiem@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 months ago

Oh yeah, what vast AI model has Brave developed and trained? Brave is literally powered thru Bing. Even their own “engine” is just Bing results. There is no Brave search engine and if Bing shutdown tomorrow, Brave would crumble.

Downvote all you want, Brave is basically an extension of Bing that just adds an anonymous wrapper around your query, nothing more. Even the quick results they deliver and just Bing run thru another layer.

[-] Interstellar_1@pawb.social 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Sure that's true, that doesn't answer the question I asked though.

this post was submitted on 23 May 2024

165 points (100.0% liked)

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