Is Brave Browser A Scam? [2020 Review]

What Is Brave Browser

Brave browser is a free website browser developed by Brave Software, Inc. What sets Brave apart from the conventional browser like Firefox, Chrome, IE, and Safari is the fact that it includes an ad-blocker and website tracker blocker.

Brave also includes a way for the user to earn their own cryptocurrency Basic Attention Token (BAT). The browser also features functions for users to use the BAT for contributions and transactions.

Brave browser is open-source, meaning that the source code is free to access and contains no copyright. Anyone can use, copy, study, and change the software in any way for their own use. They can't, of course, use the original brand or copyright the edited code.

It also doesn't mean that anyone can access and change your Brave browser. Brave distributes the original browser, so if you download it from their website you can be sure you have a safe copy of the software.

The brave browser was originally launched in 2016 as an effort to create a browser with an ad-blocking feature and improved privacy and security over the current mainstream browsers. Brave promised to include an ad feature and a revenue sharing program later on.

In 2018 brave launched a pay-to-surf test version of their browser with about 250 ads. They also added support for Tor anonymity network for the desktop version.

After further development, Brave released a stable release version in November 2019 and had almost 9 million active users at that point.

Features

One of the key features over its competitors is that Brave claims to have 3 to 6 times faster loading times than Chrome or Firefox, for example, straight out of the box.

Brave was originally created for increased privacy and security. It delivers this very effectively with features like constant private mode, customizable shielding settings, default settings that block phishing, malware, and malvertising, etc.

Here are just a few of the key security features built into Brave:

• Adblocking
• Cookie control
• Blocks scripts
• Browsing data clearing
• Built-in password manager
• Form autofill
• Controls content access to full screen
• Controls site access to autoplay media
• Send "do not track" with browsing requests

So yeah, Brave is big on security and privacy and that's great since basically everyone and their mother is after your data these days in the online world. But the real key difference to all mainstream browsers is Brave Rewards.

Brave Rewards And BAT

Brave Reward is a feature that allows you to earn "frequent flyer-like tokens" for viewing ads through the browser. They also supposedly allow you to help fund the content you browse.

This happens by either allowing Brave to automatically distribute your contributions based on how much time you spend on the sites or you can choose to tip sites directly.

The most important thing here is that this all done so that you remain anonymous and your browsing history private. You can't be identified by the sites you visit and support.

The key features of Brave Rewards are:

• You can earn by viewing private ads
• Tip your favorite creators
• Contribute monthly to sites
• Become a certified creator and start earning BATs from your content

Brave Rewards is built on a cryptocurrency called Basic Attention Token or BAT for short. When you start browsing with Brave and activate the Brave Rewards (remember it's optional) your browser will automatically start measuring the attention you spend on sites you visit.

Once a month the browser will send a corresponding amount of BAT divided to the sites based on your attention.

You can also earn BATs every time you view an ad through the ad feature of the browser. When the feature is active, ads are presented separately from your web content at a convenient time. They can be shown as system notifications or as ads on the new tab page.

You will earn 70%  of the ad revenue Brave gets from the advertisers. You can then contribute these to the sites you visit or you can change them to actual currency, so this means that you can make actual money with Brave. We'll talk about how much a bit later on.

Who's Behind Brave?

"Ok. The browser and its features sound really nice. But Jukka, it's created by a never-heard company, could it be a scam that just wants access to your private data?"

Well, as it turns out, Brave Software is far from never-heard or a small start-up. The CEO is Brendan Eich. Brendan is actually the creator of Javascript and a former CEO of Mozilla Corp (yes, the company behind Firefox). How's that for credentials?

The company's mission is to fix the Internet by offering users with a safer and faster browsing while offering support for content creators through a new attention-based ecosystem.

When you think about this system makes sense. If everyone used ad-blockers, many content creators couldn't monetize their content.

And while you might be accustomed to browsing the Internet for free, most content creators deserve to get paid for their intellectual work. Many do this with some form of advertising.

Of course monetizing strategies, like affiliate marketing isn't as affected, because it uses direct links instead of displayed advertisements. But a browser that blocks cookies, for example, can prevent affiliate marketing systems from operating correctly.

To counter this, Brave has included the system to offer a way for content creators to earn based on user interest. Unfortunately at this point, this is not a feasible way to make real income on a website in my opinion, but maybe in the future.

Is Brave A Scam?

No. Brave is definitely not a scam. It's just a web browser with added privacy and security features and a way to earn some cryptocurrency.

The company behind the browser is legit with a very experienced CEO. There is no evidence showing that Brave would be a scam of any sort.

There has been some controversy and critical reception, mainly criticizing the fact that Brave blocks regular ads and displays it's own, depriving websites of their income source. This doesn't, of course, make it a scam of any sort.

In fact, Brave has been acclaimed as the fastest browser currently and it uses only a fraction of resources compared to the industry leaders.

The biggest issue is that it lacks support for many commonly used browser extensions. The fact remains that it has a relatively low userbase of about 9 million, so third party software developers won't likely take interest in it for the time being.

There have been reports of a Brave browser phishing scam going around. It's important to know that this has nothing to do with the company, it's a fake version of the browser that scammers use to steal important information.

If you want to use Brave, always download the browser from their website or from an app store through the official channel. This way the chances of receiving a fake software is minimal.

How Much Can You Earn With Brave?

So how much money can you actually earn with Brave? Well, first of all, there are at least three ways to make money with Brave.

You can become their affiliate marketer (not an affiliate link). If someone joins Brave through your link and uses brave for 30 days or more. You can earn up to $7.50/user this way. Of course, if you can refer thousands of users this can add up.

The second way is to become a certified content creator yourself. If people like your content or spend time on your content, you can earn BATs based on their attention and tips. There is no upper limit for earning this way, but generally speaking, the amounts are very small.

The final way is by watching the ads that Brave displays. The maximum ad frequency setting is 5 ads/ hour. So in theory, if you could maximize that potential for half of the day (12 hours), you could earn about 90 BATs /month. This isnät realistic so something around 10 to 40 BATs is most you could expect as a very active user.

The BAT conversion rate to the US dollar is 0.1811955 at the moment of writing this article. So 90 BATs would add up to about $16.

So at this point, the actual dollar value revenue is minimal and I can't really recommend Brave as a business opportunity. I can definitely recommend Brave for the security features and improved load times, however.

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Conclusion

I hope you found this Brave browser review useful. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below and I will get back to you.

Brave is definitely a legit browser that is free to use. It also offers you a couple of ways to earn some cryptocurrency.

I can't really recommend it as a business opportunity n it's current form, the income potential is minimal. But I can definitely recommend it as a safer, faster way to browse the Internet.

If you want to learn how to make a significant income online, definitely check out Wealthy Affiliate and join my free course. Thousands of people have created successful online businesses following their training.

If you found this review useful, consider supporting me by sharing it on social media! Thanks for reading and see you next time!