Deep web, Dark web, Surface web. What’s the difference?

In 2023, a lot of people are talking about the differences between the deep web, dark web, and surface web.

In short:

  • The deep web refers to the portion of the internet that is not indexed by search engines.
  • The dark web is a small part of the deep web that can only be accessed using specialized software and is often associated with illegal activities.
  • The surface web is the portion of the internet that is accessible through search engines and makes up a small portion of the entire internet.

Deep web

The deep web is the part of the internet that is not indexed by search engines. The content on this part of the web can’t be found using traditional methods, such as Google or Bing, because of how it’s built.

The deep web consists mostly of password-protected forums, sites that are hosted behind paywalls and databases with login credentials needed to access them. The majority of content on these sites are in databases and file repositories such as research papers and archived images from shut down websites (like GeoCities).

Dark web

The dark web is a subset of the deep web. The deep web refers to all content on the World Wide Web that cannot be indexed by search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo.

The most common reason for this is that the content is not publicly accessible, such as private networks, or pages behind paywalls. In addition to this, most pages in search engines are created dynamically (e.g., WordPress blogs) and therefore do not have fixed URLs on which they can be found by crawlers.

This means you can only access them if you know where they are located on the Internet and how to navigate there—hence why it’s called “the dark” side of the world wide web!

Surface web

The surface web is everything you can access without using Tor. It makes up the majority of the internet, but only a small percentage of it is indexed by search engines like Google and Yahoo!. Most people use this part of the internet, which is why it’s called “the surface web.”

On the other hand, those who are interested in privacy and anonymity use hidden services on Tor. These sites are only accessible through a special browser that allows users to hide their IP addresses so they don’t get tracked by advertisers or hackers.

Tor hidden services can only be accessed using the Tor network.

Tor hidden services, or .onions, are websites hosted on the dark web that can only be accessed using the Tor network. They’re not accessible from regular browsers and aren’t searchable by Google.

Conclusion

Now you know what the deep web, dark web, and surface web are. You also know a bit more about what Tor hidden services are and how to access them. You can use them as a tool for anonymity, or just for fun. If you’re looking to learn more about the dark web, check out our guide on how deep web search engines work!