<s>
A	O
search	B-Protocol
plugin	I-Protocol
provides	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
access	O
a	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
from	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
,	O
without	O
having	O
to	O
go	O
to	O
the	O
engine	O
's	O
website	O
first	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Technically	O
,	O
a	O
search	B-Protocol
plugin	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
small	O
text	B-General_Concept
file	I-General_Concept
that	O
tells	O
the	O
browser	B-Application
what	O
information	O
to	O
send	O
to	O
a	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
and	O
how	O
the	O
results	O
are	O
to	O
be	O
retrieved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ease	O
with	O
which	O
search	B-Protocol
plugins	I-Protocol
can	O
be	O
created	O
has	O
led	O
to	O
archives	O
where	O
public	O
contributions	O
can	O
be	O
downloaded	O
,	O
and	O
these	O
can	O
be	O
important	O
in	O
software	O
personalization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
Firefox	B-Language
2.0	I-Language
in	O
2006	O
,	O
search	B-Protocol
plugins	I-Protocol
started	O
to	O
offer	O
search	O
suggestions	O
,	O
where	O
terms	O
would	O
appear	O
as	O
the	O
user	O
typed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
uses	O
Ajax	B-General_Concept
technology	O
to	O
query	O
the	O
remote	O
website	O
's	O
database	O
for	O
most	O
common	O
search	O
terms	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
differs	O
from	O
traditional	O
browser	B-Application
autofill	B-Protocol
,	O
where	O
the	O
form	O
would	O
typically	O
be	O
completed	O
based	O
on	O
information	O
the	O
user	O
had	O
entered	O
previously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
search	B-Application
engines	I-Application
now	O
offer	O
search	B-Protocol
plugins	I-Protocol
and	O
these	O
are	O
often	O
paired	O
with	O
download	O
of	O
related	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
those	O
offering	O
search	B-Protocol
plugins	I-Protocol
are	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
and	O
,	O
among	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenSearch	B-Application
is	O
supported	O
by	O
both	O
Mozilla	B-Language
Firefox	I-Language
2.0	I-Language
and	O
later	O
,	O
and	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
7	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Gecko	B-Language
based	O
browsers	B-Application
support	O
search	B-Protocol
plugins	I-Protocol
using	O
a	O
SGML	B-Language
based	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Opera	B-Application
supports	O
search	B-Protocol
plugins	I-Protocol
using	O
its	O
custom	O
search.ini	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
