Hey guys, I work on Neeva and wanted to add some more context re: US only launch. We work with partners to provide localized data for results such as weather, sports, movies and more. We're working hard to get these partnerships in place beyond the US, and we expect to launch in Canada and Western Europe within a few quarters.
Another interesting difference (that I personally find to be one of the best features in Neeva) is the ability to connect apps. You can then search not only the public web, but also private data from your Slack, Github, Gdrive, Jira (etc) accounts. We're hard at work adding more integrations in the near future as well.
“The Times They Are A-Changin'.” These types of moves from Google are interesting, while not unexpected given the mounting regulatory pressure they are facing. It’s a bit unclear which stake-holder Google is trying to optimize for: Chrome users, AdSense publishers, or itself. Time will tell how this all shakes out, but it’s important for people to realize that there are a growing number of alternatives available if you care about privacy and retaining control over your browsing activity. Neeva is a good example of an alternative search engine which prioritizes user privacy by following a subscription monetization model, avoiding the ad-ecosystem all together.
Disclaimer: I work at Neeva[1], and these opinions are my own.
After a long period of relative dominance by a single provider, there’s recently been a lot of interesting things happening in the search space. Specifically around privacy, there are multiple projects and companies working to offer us control how (and whether) our search activity is captured and monetized. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch — companies providing search services need to monetize SOMEHOW, and I think that’s the key thing to pay attention to when evaluating new services.
Brave’s approach seems to be to straddle the line a bit between free and paid — the article says there will be an option to pay for a completely ad-free version of the Brave Search service, while also having a free option that is ad supported (albeit via the unique BAT model).
It’s exciting to see these types of services starting to become available. Competition and user choice in search is a good thing for everyone involved.
Disclaimer: I work at Neeva[1], a subscription based never-any-ads search engine. These opinions are my own.