Quote:You're almost certainly reading this story through Google's Chrome web browser. It is, by far, the world's most popular browser – according to stats from June 2019, Chrome is used by more than 70 per cent of desktop users around the world.

One of them, Brave, has just launched its first full version. Built by Brendan Eich, who co-founded Mozilla (the creator of Firefox), it's one of the most interesting browser competitors to have emerged in recent years. This week, Brave came out of beta and launched its first stable release. With version 1.0 comes its own private advertising network and a reward scheme which lets its users pay websites that they like.

Minimising data collection

Google is in the big data business. It collects information you give it – through browsing, maps, voice, search and more – and uses this to build up a picture of your life. Through having a detailed knowledge of you, Google can then sell advertising that's more targeted to your interests. The more specific the ad, the more money Google makes.

Faster browsing

When it comes to browsing, speed matters. Brave claims its browser is faster than its rivals. The company says major news websites can launch between two and eight times faster on mobile and desktop than in Chrome and Firefox. The reason for this? Because the Brave browser isn't loading ads with trackers, the company claims it can load web pages faster.

Private ads

While Brave blocks all ads by default, it's not an ad-free browser. The organisation believes it has a better way to do online advertising. Instead it has its own private ads platform.