While helping others with computer problems, Nik and I have both observed a curious use of search engines. It looks something like this:

Typing a URL into a search engine

Although it’s not exactly wrong to type a URL into a search engine, I can’t imagine a reason to do so. It’s a little like calling 411 to ask for a phone number that you already have memorized. What’s the point?

Our theory is that there’s a little confusion out there about the difference between a search engine’s search field(s) and the web browser’s address bar. See below:

A Firefox window; other browsers may look slightly different, but the layout should be similar (some browsers do not have the upper search field)

Using the Address Bar:

Typing a URL (e.g., firstbytes.com or www.firstbytes.com) into the browser’s address bar causes your browser to load the page you requested immediately.

Using a Search Field:

On the other hand, when you type something into a search field (whether Google, Yahoo, or any other search engine) and hit enter, you are asking the search engine to go out and find sites that best match whatever you typed into the field. When you get your results list, you can then click on the most likely link.

Both methods will get you to your desired destination, but using the address bar gets you there directly while using a search engine requires an extra, unnecessary step–and an extra page load that costs extra time.

Tagged as: browser, search, url