The term toolbar is derived from the word “tool” which implies that it is something that is designed to help the user. A browser toolbar is basically a tool kit that provides easy access to common functions of the web browser. Although toolbars gained popularity from mid 90’s but the most dominant era was from the late 1990’s to early 2000’s.
The Browser Toolbar Development once seemed to lose its presence but due to the resurgence of open source technologies the toolbar development has breathed a new life. For instance, there are millions of people who use Google’s Toolbar enabling them to use the search engine from within their browser without having to open the Google’s website.
The web developers and internet marketers have invested a lot in the development of independent toolbars for Firefox, Chrome, IE and other web browsers. In this article, we will see the most popular toolbars on the web and their unique features that enhances the visitor’s browsing experience.
Google Toolbar
The Google Toolbar is more valuable to the average user before the advent of built-in browser search bars. Pop-up blocker, spell check, auto fill-in for forms, translation functions etc. are engaging functionalities thus adding value for the ordinary user.
Features
– Search bar with suggestions and history
– PageRank indicator
– Send-to feature
– Search highlighting of referral keywords
– Links to news or other vertical search points at Google
Yahoo Toolbar
For the users who use Yahoo, the Yahoo toolbar provides some fair value. For the other users, the features don’t seem so exciting. It’s unlikely that any developer or web marketer is going to use Yahoo toolbar unless they are heavily tied in to Yahoo’s other services such as Mail, My Yahoo etc.
Features
– Search bar with search suggest information & vertical search options
– Yahoo bookmarking
– Anti-spy optional plug-in
– Connection to Yahoo Mail & My Yahoo
The Microsoft Live Search Toolbar
If you are a dedicated user of Microsoft online offerings, the Live toolbar offers more than Yahoo and interacts quite well with the browser and web pages. The primary feature of this toolbar is it interacts well with the Microsoft products and Microsoft properties on the web.
Features
– Search bar with suggestions & vertical search options
– Direct news links
– Link to gallery for additional buttons and options
– Maps links for addresses on a page
– Hotmail/Microsoft/Outlook email link and sending options
– Direct links to Live Messenger
– Windows Live Spaces blog/publish options
– Search term & snapshot highlighting
These are just the few popular toolbars on the web. There must be hundreds and thousands of other toolbars for almost everything from Wikipedia to Web2.0/Social Media toolbars to gain advantage from. So, what are you thinking? Contact us today for Custom Browser Toolbar Development Services!
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