Brave Browser Integrates Wayback Machine Lookup As Default Service

An upcoming heavyweight within the global web browser market, Brave stands in opposition against big names like Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome. The browser, selling itself through its prioritization of privacy, can now automatically redirect its users to archived versions of pages previously removed from the Internet.

Native Wayback Machine Integration

Starting on the 25th of February, the users of the Brave Browser can now instantly access content archived, should they go “missing” on the Internet. The process has been streamlined through the integration of the Wayback Machine within the Brave desktop browser.

To allow for this built-in feature, Brave has engaged in a partnership with the famous nonprofit digital library, The Internet Archive. The highlight had made its debut on version 1.4 of the Brave browser and is currently only available on the Desktop versions of it. The development was made public by the Archive itself, doing a blog post on the 25th of February.

Brave Collaborates With Archive.com

The Internet Archive itself was founded back in 1996. The entire purpose of the organization is to offer permanent access to historical digital data. The Internet Archive has managed to store 900 billion URLs, as well as 400 billion web pages on its Archive to date. As it stands now, the Archive is adding hundreds of millions of new pages to tis database every day.

Due to the native integration of the Wayback Machine, any HTTP 404 responses within the Brave Desktop browser will now have an additional option offered. Users will now be presented with a choice of reading an archived page, instead of being presented by just the “Page Not Found” notice.

Due to this, the users of Brave will be capable of scrolling through older versions of the page, should that page in question be archived within the Wayback Machine. While it is true that extensions allow for this feature in all the major browsers, Brave boasts the title of being the only major browser in the world that offers this feature in its native model.

Previous Histories

Brave and The Internet Archive has had a long history before this Wayback Machine integration, however. Back in 2017 of this year, the Internet Archive added the option for Brave users to give the group donations in the form of micropayments. The feature within Brave allows users to donate to their favorite sites through the use of crypto.