I downloaded the new Google Chrome Browser. The URL window functions as a search window if you type in a term that isn’t recognized as a URL. If I type DELTA or UNITED or LLOYDS per se into the URL windows of Safari and Firefox, they convert that to Delta.com, United.com and Lloyds.com respectively, which statistically may be a good guess but may not represent what 100% of all users intend when using such terms. If I type those terms into IE, I get search results for those terms on MS Live Search (or Verizon’s search when I do this at home). Google Chrome, as you would expect, returns Google results for non-urls typed into the URL window. Search results add a click for users but doesn’t land users on an unintended page.
Both Live Search and Google, of course, may return keyword ads for competitors along with the organic search results.
I direct your attention to this post from March discussing URL-based navigation vs search from the point of view of a trademark owner, and speculation on how browsers may evolve in that regard. I view Google Chrome as one more potential step away from the primacy of the domain name in web navigation.