Common Web pages bookmarked by Del.icio.us users include news stories, online learning resources, and tech support pages. Since other users add useful pages to their bookmarks, the best Web pages eventually rise to the top of the popularity chain. The result is a collection of Web pages that are helpful and worthwhile visiting.
Users can either browse or search the database of bookmarks on Del.icio.us. When a user saves a bookmark, he or she can add a description and tags (keywords) that are pertinent to the Web page. This help the page show up for relevant searches. The results of Del.icio.us searches are often of higher quality than a regular search engine since the sites have all been chosen by users. Apparently, other Web surfers agree, since the website became so popular that Yahoo! bought the Del.icio.us at the end of 2005.
The domain name "del.icio.us" is a creative modification of the standard domain syntax, where "del" is the domain prefix and "icio.us" is the domain name, with "us" being the domain suffix.