It is not unique to Ancestry and many of the errors are in the original census which should always transcribed as written. You can add corrections which are added as an alternative version of the name so the next person looking for the family will find them easier.

You get used to searching in a way that will find alternatives / mistakes. With my surname I would try BRIS* if the first try does not find someone.

Often the dreaded "ditto" will mean that the surname is completely wrong either on the census or a mistake by the transcriber. So if a Fred Bloggs was living with his cousins the Smiths then he might end up transcribed as Fred Smith.

You search on things like first name, age, place of birth, piece number and sometimes you find them. Often you don't but that might be because they are not in the census or the page is missing.

Try doing a bit of transcribing for one of projects like FreeBMD and you will soon find that it is not as easy as it seems.

MB