A set of ordered predicted completion strings are presented to a user as
the user enters text in a text entry box (e.g., a browser or a toolbar).
The predicted completion strings can be in the form of URLs or query
strings. The ordering may be based on any number of factors (e.g., a
query's frequency of submission from a community of users). URLs can be
ranked based on an importance value of the URL. Privacy is taken into
account in a number of ways, such as using a previously submitted query
only when more than a certain number of unique requestors have made the
query. The sets of ordered predicted completion strings is obtained by
matching a fingerprint value of the user's entry string to a fingerprint
to table map which contains the set of ordered predicted completion
strings.