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Browser vs. Search Engine

By gobrain

Jun 20th, 2024

A web browser and a search engine are two crucial tools for navigating the internet. Even though they are used interchangeably, they serve different purposes. Let's discover the differences between a browser and a search engine.

What is A Browser?

A web browser is a software application used to access, retrieve, and display content on the World Wide Web, including web pages, images, videos, and other files.

A browser:

  • provides the user interface for interacting with the internet.
  • renders HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to display web pages properly.
  • allows users to navigate between different web pages using URLs.
  • store data locally, such as cookies, cache, and browsing history.
  • allows adding various extensions or add-ons to increase functionality.

Examples

  • Google Chrome
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Safari
  • Microsoft Edge

What is A Search Engine?

A search engine is a tool that enables users to search for information on the internet by entering keywords or phrases. It indexes the web content to make it searchable.

A search engine:

  • crawls the web to index web pages, documents, and other types of content.
  • uses complex algorithms to determine the relevance of the indexed content to the search query.
  • displays a list of relevant web pages based on the search query, often ranked by relevance.

Examples

  • Google
  • Bing
  • Yahoo!
  • DuckDuckGo

How A Browser and Search Engine Work Together

Yes, they are different tools but they works together as outlined below:

  • You open a web browser (like Chrome or Firefox).
  • You type a search query into the browser's address bar or the search bar of a search engine (like Google).
  • The browser sends this query to the search engine.
  • The search engine processes the query, searches its index, and returns a list of relevant results.
  • You click on one of the results, and the browser loads and displays the web page.

To illustrate the differences between them, imagine the internet is a giant library. The search engine is like the library catalog, helping you find the books (websites) you're interested in. The web browser is like the tool you use to read those books once you find them on the shelf.

Conclusion

In summary, a web browser is the tool used to access and view content on the internet, while a search engine is a service that helps you find specific content on the internet. They complement each other, with the browser providing the interface to access the results provided by the search engine.

Thank you for reading.