That’s why Google Toolbar would continue to thrive and build a dependence of Google services on users for years to come. Internet Explorer 7 (2006) was one of the first browsers to have a dedicated search field next to the address bar, making web searches quick - though the default search engine was Microsoft Live Search, to the dismay of many. The popularity of Google Toolbar - and other browser toolbars - in the 2000s was what pushed web browsers to adopt web searches as a built-in feature. You could do a Google search in the Google Toolbar, the IE8 search field, or the Google website - the choice is yours. Internet Explorer 8 (released in 2009) on Windows XP. Sure, I’d still end up going the extra mile and actually fix their real issues, but each removal of the omnipresent Google Toolbar felt almost like material change. It always seemed to work, too: removing not only Google Toolbar but also Yahoo! Toolbar, Ask Jeeves Toolbar, or any toolbar would give back so much screen real estate (we are talking about the 1024 x 768 screen resolution days of the 2000s) that there was at least the perception of a tune-up.

If they ask me about tuning their computer or complained about websites loading slowly: I told them it’s the Google Toolbar, and I was happy to uninstall it for them. Google Toolbar existed to help me blame it for my family’s and friends’ computer problems. I have a confession: I was not a Google Toolbar user, but we had a relationship. Chrome is great ( fine?), but it isn’t what it used to be. It feels unreal for Google to silently forsake a tool that was, in 2008, responsible for 12 percent of all Google searches - and then convince a new internet generation that everyone should just download Chrome if they love Googling so much.

How to “install” Google Toolbar - the result may surprise you.

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