Brave Search's Goggles feature silently exits beta, brings left and right-wing news filters

Brave Search has quietly made a bold move, ushering its Goggles feature out of beta and into the hands of its users without much fanfare. This innovative feature lets you reshape your search results with customizable filters, and it’s now rolling out with eight popular presets that put the power back in your hands.

Launched in beta back in 2022, Goggles was Brave’s experiment in algorithmic transparency. The idea? Give users the ability to tweak how search results are ranked, breaking free from one-size-fits-all algorithms. Fast forward to today, and it seems Goggles has grown up. The ‘BETA’ tag is gone, and Brave users can now dive into a new world of tailored searches — from political leanings to tech-centric filters and beyond. The screenshot below on the left is back when Goggles was in beta and on the right is the latest version without the ‘BETA’ tag.

So, what exactly can Goggles do for you? Let’s take a look at the lineup:

• Tech blogs: Want to geek out? This filter boosts results from trusted tech blogs, pulling sources from platforms like Blogsurf and Refined.blog.
• Hacker News / 1K short: Prioritizes domains loved by the Hacker News community while dodging the heavyweights of the web.
• News from the left/right: These filters tweak search rankings to favor sources leaning left or right, according to the AllSides Media Bias Rating.
• No Pinterest: If Pinterest spam has been your nemesis, this filter is your savior, removing those pesky pins from your search results.
• Rust programming: Ideal for coders, this filter amplifies Rust-related content.
• Copycats removal: Tired of endless copy-paste content? This one filters out repetitive, unoriginal pages like StackOverflow threads.
• 1K short: Strips out results from the 1,000 most-viewed websites, giving underdogs a chance to shine.

These filters are available to all Brave Search users via the Goggles tab, offering a fresh way to explore the internet. Want to read the news without worrying about bias? Pick your side, or just experiment for a different perspective. Tired of big tech dominating your search results? Let the 1K Short Goggle take the reins.

The release of these Goggles has sparked chatter online, with some users applauding the feature as a game-changer while others question the necessity of tailoring news by political bias. But the real kicker? You can even create your own Goggle if you’re tech-savvy enough to dabble in some coding.

For Brave, this is just another milestone in its quest to redefine how we navigate the internet. Since its launch, Brave Search has been positioning itself as a privacy-first, bias-free alternative to the big players like Google. And with features like Goggles, it’s not just competing — it’s innovating.

While Brave has yet to make an official announcement about Goggles leaving beta, its removal of the “BETA” label and the introduction of these eight public filters suggests the feature is here to stay. Plus, with Brave calling Goggles a “living project,” users can expect more filters and updates to roll out in the future.

So, whether you’re looking to escape the echo chamber, clean up your search results, or simply explore the web with a fresh perspective, Goggles is worth a spin. Head over to the Goggles tab on Brave Search and start experimenting. Who knows? You might just stumble upon a whole new way to search.