How does Brave browser impact email attribution and Google Analytics?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 9 Jun 2025
Updated 16 Aug 2025
6 min read
The digital landscape is constantly evolving, with a clear trend towards greater user privacy. Browsers like Brave, known for their built-in ad and tracker blocking, are at the forefront of this shift. This focus on privacy has significant implications for how we track email attribution and analyze performance using tools like Google Analytics.
When a user clicks on a link in an email, we typically rely on various tracking mechanisms to understand where that user came from, what actions they took, and ultimately, what value they bring. Google Analytics, for instance, uses JavaScript snippets and cookies to gather this data. However, privacy-focused browsers challenge this traditional model, creating blind spots in our data.
Understanding how these browsers function is crucial for marketers and deliverability professionals. It's not about circumventing privacy, but about adapting our measurement strategies to accurately reflect user behavior in a more privacy-conscious environment. Ignoring this trend can lead to skewed data, misinformed decisions, and a potentially incomplete picture of your email campaign's true impact.
Understanding brave's privacy-first approach
Brave Browser's primary distinguishing feature is its built-in ad and tracker blocker, which is enabled by default. This mechanism actively prevents the loading of third-party tracking scripts, including those from Google Analytics. When someone uses Brave to open an email link, the browser blocks the Google Analytics script from executing on the landing page.
This means that any visits, page views, or conversions originating from Brave users will likely not be recorded by Google Analytics, or they will be significantly underreported. It's not that the links themselves are broken, but rather the tracking code fails to load or function as intended. Users still reach your desired landing page, but their journey isn't visible through your standard analytics setup.
Furthermore, Brave also strips identifying URL parameters, sometimes referred to as link decoration. This includes common parameters used for tracking campaigns, such as UTM tags (e.g., utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign). Even if Google Analytics somehow managed to load a portion of its script, the crucial information needed for proper email attribution would be absent, leading to unidentifiable or dark traffic.
Brave's core privacy features
Brave is designed to protect user privacy by default. Its core features include:
Ad blocking: Stops intrusive advertisements from loading, improving page speed and user experience.
Tracker blocking: Prevents third-party trackers, like Google Analytics, from collecting data about browsing habits.
HTTPS upgrade: Automatically upgrades connections to HTTPS for enhanced security whenever possible.
Fingerprinting protection: Makes it harder for websites to identify users based on their browser configuration.
The challenge for Google Analytics
The core issue with Brave (and other privacy-focused browsers or ad blockers) is the disruption of the traditional email attribution model that relies heavily on client-side tracking, especially via Google Analytics. When GA scripts are blocked or URL parameters are stripped, it creates a gap in your data.
For email marketers, this means that clicks originating from Brave users might appear as direct traffic, or even as unknown sources, in your Google Analytics reports. This inaccuracy makes it challenging to attribute conversions correctly back to specific email campaigns, segment performance, or understand the full journey of a user who interacted with your email.
While the overall market share of Brave might seem small compared to Chrome or Safari, the segment of users who choose Brave are precisely those who are highly privacy-conscious. Their actions, or lack thereof, on your analytics platform reflect a broader trend towards user control over data. This also impacts other tracking methods, as discussed in how Mail Privacy Protection and Intelligent Tracking Prevention affect click tracking across platforms.
Traditional google analytics tracking
Traditionally, Google Analytics relies on JavaScript and cookies to track user interactions. When an email link is clicked, these elements work together to record detailed attribution data.
JavaScript execution: GA tracking code loads and sends data to Google's servers.
Cookie-based tracking: Cookies store session information, user IDs, and referral data for attribution.
URL parameters: UTM tags provide specific campaign, source, and medium details.
Impact with brave browser
Brave's default settings actively interfere with these traditional tracking methods, leading to incomplete or missing attribution data in Google Analytics. This creates a disconnect between actual user engagement and reported metrics.
Script blocking: Google Analytics JavaScript is often prevented from loading, resulting in no data being sent.
Cookie restrictions: Brave's enhanced privacy features limit cookie lifetimes and prevent cross-site tracking.
URL parameter stripping: Critical UTM parameters are removed, making campaign attribution impossible.
Beyond brave: the broader privacy landscape
It's important to recognize that Brave is not an isolated phenomenon. The shift towards greater privacy is a broad trend across the internet, driven by evolving user expectations, regulatory changes like GDPR, and features in other browsers. Many users employ ad blockers or privacy extensions on Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari that achieve similar results to Brave's built-in features.
This means that the data discrepancies you observe due to Brave are likely representative of a larger group of your audience. Relying solely on client-side Google Analytics for email attribution will increasingly lead to an incomplete picture of your marketing performance. It highlights the need to rethink attribution models in a world with diminishing third-party cookies.
Email deliverability is intrinsically linked to how well you understand and respect user privacy. While Brave's impact on Google Analytics is about reporting, consistent failure to respect privacy could indirectly affect your sender reputation, potentially leading to your emails being directed to the spam folder. This is why practices related to HTTP tracking links and their impact on deliverability remain important.
Privacy feature
Impact on tracking
Affected browsers/technologies
Ad & tracker blocking
Prevents client-side analytics scripts (e.g., Google Analytics) from loading.
Brave Browser, Firefox (Enhanced Tracking Protection), Chrome with ad blockers.
URL parameter stripping
Removes UTMs and other tracking parameters from URLs, hindering campaign attribution.
Brave Browser, some ad blockers.
Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP)
Limits cookie lifetime and blocks cross-site tracking via third-party cookies.
Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox
Mail Privacy Protection (MPP)
Pre-fetches email content, skewing open rates and IP tracking.
Apple Mail
Strategies for more accurate measurement
Given the ongoing shift towards user privacy, relying solely on Google Analytics for email attribution, especially for users of browsers like Brave, is no longer sufficient. It's time to diversify and adapt your measurement strategies.
One effective strategy is to implement server-side tracking. Instead of relying on client-side JavaScript that can be blocked, server-side tracking allows you to send data directly from your server to your analytics platform. This can capture more accurate data, even from users with strict privacy settings.
Another crucial aspect is to focus on first-party data. Instead of third-party cookies, concentrate on collecting data directly from user interactions on your owned properties, such as forms, logins, or direct purchases. This data is more reliable and less susceptible to browser privacy restrictions. While tools like Gmail's email engagement tracking provide some insight, they are not a complete attribution solution.
Implementing server-side tracking
Server-side tracking allows you to send data directly from your web server or an intermediary server to Google Analytics via the Measurement Protocol. This bypasses client-side blocking.
Example: server-side measurement protocol hit
Basic server-side Google Analytics hitHTTP
POST /collect HTTP/1.1
Host: www.google-analytics.com
v=1&tid=UA-XXXXX-Y&cid=555&t=event&ec=email&ea=click&el=my_campaign
This method helps capture interactions that client-side scripts might miss due to ad blockers or browser privacy features. You can also integrate this with your email service provider's click tracking, which often uses redirects before landing on your site.
Adapting to a privacy-first world
Given the challenges posed by privacy-focused browsers like Brave, we need to adjust our expectations and strategies for email attribution.
The movement towards enhanced user privacy is undeniable and will continue to shape how we measure online activity. Browsers like Brave are not just an anomaly, but a signal of a larger trend that includes broader browser privacy initiatives. Marketers must adapt by exploring alternative attribution models, leveraging first-party data, and adopting server-side tracking methods.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Embrace privacy-preserving measurement methods, such as server-side tracking, to capture more reliable data.
Focus on aggregated metrics and overall trends rather than attempting precise individual user-level tracking.
Prioritize building trust with your audience by respecting their privacy choices and preferences.
Common pitfalls
Over-reliance on traditional client-side tracking, leading to significant data gaps and skewed attribution.
Attempting to bypass browser privacy features, which can negatively impact sender reputation and user trust.
Underestimating the growing impact of privacy-focused browsers and ad blockers on overall analytics accuracy.
Expert tips
Regularly test your email campaign links across various browsers and privacy settings to understand actual user experience.
Explore new attribution models that do not solely depend on last-click or cookie-based tracking.
Leverage other data sources, such as CRM data, to gain a more complete picture of customer journeys.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks discussed concerns about email attribution on Brave Browser due to its tracker-blocking features and noted that custom URLs do not appear to be a scalable solution for tracking.
March 5, 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explained that Brave Browser operates like traditional ad blockers, causing Google Analytics scripts to fail loading on websites.
Brave, known for their built-in ad and tracker blocking, are at the forefront of this shift. This focus on privacy has significant implications for how we track email attribution and analyze performance using tools like 
Google Analytics.
Chrome or 
Safari, the segment of users who choose Brave are precisely those who are highly privacy-conscious. Their actions, or lack thereof, on your analytics platform reflect a broader trend towards user control over data. This also impacts other tracking methods, as discussed in how Mail Privacy Protection and Intelligent Tracking Prevention affect click tracking across platforms.
Google Analytics relies on JavaScript and cookies to track user interactions. When an email link is clicked, these elements work together to record detailed attribution data.
Microsoft Edge, 
Mozilla Firefox, and Safari that achieve similar results to Brave's built-in features.
Firefox (Enhanced Tracking Protection), Chrome with ad blockers.
