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2000 - 2021
Google Toolbar
“A search box above whatever page you were reading.”
- Birth year
- 2000
- Shutdown year
- 2021
- Lifespan
- 21 years
- Peak era
- 2000–2021
- Company
- Category
- Browser Add-ons
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What Was It?
Google Toolbar added search and other conveniences to the browser’s chrome. Before combined address-and-search bars became standard, it kept Google within reach without first visiting its homepage.
A toolbar could change the browser without replacing it. Keeping search close to the page being viewed reduced a repeated detour, and the extra strip of interface became part of the browser's everyday appearance. It belongs to a time when add-ons supplied conveniences later expected from the browser itself.
The remaining Internet Explorer version lasted beyond that original moment of novelty. Its retirement marks the end of one recognizable way people customized their path around the web, rather than the end of searching from the browser interface.
Things You Probably Forgot
- The toolbar originally targeted Internet Explorer.
- Versions included features such as pop-up blocking and page translation.
The Story
- 2000 Google Toolbar added search and other conveniences to the browser’s chrome.
- 2000 The toolbar brings Google search into the browser interface itself.
- 2021 Google discontinued the remaining Internet Explorer toolbar in 2021.
How It Died
Google discontinued the remaining Internet Explorer toolbar in 2021.
What Replaced It?
Memories
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