Toolbars: Big Business

Search but you will not find toolbar adoption rates, but assuming just a few percentage points among internet users, and the numbers are huge. Toolbars are primary real estates for both advertisers and search companies: they are persistant across every Web site you visit: if you are a fortunate enough company to have a placement within a toolbar, you will receive hundreds, in some cases, billions, of impressions per year. In an effort to extend their market share, search companies not only release their own branded toolbars, but also negotiate co-branded deals with companies to be the default search engine for third-party toolbars.

Yahoo! announced today a deal with Hewlett Packard for a co-branded toolbar in which Yahoo will be "set as the default search engine in Microsoft's upcoming Internet Explorer 7 on HP consumer desktop and notebook PCs." Yahoo! will pay $$$ HP for the privilege of being the default search engine within the built-in toolbar that will come embedded within all HP computer units sold with I.E. Yahoo! makes money every time a users conducts a search using the toolbar and clicks on a sponsored link.

A big source of income for internet browsers and toolbars are from the money make by integrating third-party search services or advertisers into their browser bar. For example, Firefox users will notice the drop down menu in the search bar that includes companies such as Amazon and eBay. Every time a user does a search across Amazon or eBay and makes a purchase, Mozilla Corporation, a taxable company, makes money by sharing in the revenue generated. This is significant money considering the feature is built into every Mozilla browser.