Deep web
The deep web,[1] invisible web,[2] or hidden web[3] are parts of the World Wide Web whose contents are not indexed by standard web search-engine programs. This is in contrast to the "surface web", which is accessible to anyone using the Internet.[4] Computer scientist Michael K. Bergman is credited with inventing the term in 2001 as a search-indexing term.[5]
This article is about the part of the World Wide Web not indexed by traditional search engines. For other uses, see Deep web (disambiguation).Deep web sites can be accessed by a direct URL or IP address, but may require entering a password or other security information to access actual content.[6][7] Uses of deep web sites include web mail, online banking, cloud storage, restricted-access social-media pages and profiles, and web forums that require registration for viewing content. It also includes paywalled services such as video on demand and some online magazines and newspapers.
Terminology[edit]
The first conflation of the terms "deep web" and "dark web" happened during 2009 when deep web search terminology was discussed together with illegal activities occurring on the Freenet and darknet.[8] Those criminal activities include the commerce of personal passwords, false identity documents, drugs, firearms, and child pornography.[9]
Since then, after their use in the media's reporting on the black-market website Silk Road, media outlets have generally used 'deep web' synonymously with the dark web or darknet, a comparison some reject as inaccurate[10] and consequently has become an ongoing source of confusion.[11] Wired reporters Kim Zetter[12] and Andy Greenberg[13] recommend the terms be used in distinct fashions. While the deep web is a reference to any site that cannot be accessed by a traditional search engine, the dark web is a portion of the deep web that has been hidden intentionally and is inaccessible by standard browsers and methods.[14][15][16][17][18]
