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Read why OpenDNS does this: http://blog.opendns.com/2007/05/22/google-turns-the-page/ http://blog.opendns.com/2007/05/22/google-turns-the-page/

by poutine 17y ago

rpdillon 17y ago
I think I commented on that post when it was first posted in 2007, but here it is again: sure, I don't like what Dell/Google did on the new Dell machines. Meh. But that post is filled with so many absurd inaccuracies that I have to simply disregard it. Most prominently: At the top of the page, he shows the exact text that appears on the "horrible" search results page. That text explains exactly how to remove that functionality: "This program can be uninstalled from the Control Panel "Add/Remove Programs" in Windows XP or "Control Panel > Program > Programs and Features" in Windows Vista. Look for the application named "Browser Address Error Redirector". Older versions may be called "GoogleAFE" or "URL Assistant"." He says this statement is "ambiguous". I have no idea how it is ambiguous, but ok. He then goes on to say the software is "hard to remove", and later that "users can't get rid of it!", both of which are outright lies. Installing and uninstalling software is a normal part of owning a computer, and as you can see above, Google's message tells users exactly what to uninstall. The entire process could be completed in 30 seconds. But I have to ask myself every time I read this article: why is this guy going to so much effort to spread inaccuracies that demonize Google for trapping search results and presenting ads? Well, because that is exactly how OpenDNS makes money, and Google threatened their business model. The entire first portion of the post, attacks and all, is present to justify this: "we’ve stretched a bit beyond DNS itself to work around Google’s mis-directed efforts." By going on the offensive, he now tries to justify providing a DNS service that OpeDNS doesn't just resolve hostnames anymore...instead, OpenDNS makes moral judgments about the domains you visit, and, as they trumpet so loudly, "we have a fix which does not require more client software". What this means to me is that whatever OpenDNS is doing, I can't uninstall it, because they own it -- it's not on my machine, it's on theirs. Listen, when I use DNS, there's a contract I expect DNS to fulfill: I give you a name, and you resolve it to an IP or tell me it can't be resolved. It is an outright violation of the contract to resolve a hostname I give you to an address other than that with which it is associated, which is exactly what OpenDNS is doing.
gojomo 17y ago
Very helpful to understand their motivation, thanks. Unfortunately their rationale still amounts to: others are doing something sleazy, so we have to do something sleazy, too, to defend ourselves. I don't own a Dell or run with any toolbars. I would find the "Browser Address Error Redirector" and remove it if I faced that warped experience. So for me, this unrequested proxying isn't help, it's collateral damage from two competing typosquatters/querysquatters each trying to one-up the other. A harder, but classier, way for OpenDNS to escalate their battle with Google would have been to offer a different set of DNS server IP addresses for customers who may want OpenDNS to trump Google/Dell.

Read why OpenDNS does this: http://blog.opendns.com/2007/05/22/google-turns-the-page/ http://blog.opendns.com/2007/05/22/google-turns-the-page/

by poutine 17y ago

Read why OpenDNS does this: http://blog.opendns.com/2007/05/22/google-turns-the-page/ http://blog.opendns.com/2007/05/22/google-turns-the-page/

rpdillon 17y ago

I think I commented on that post when it was first posted in 2007, but here it is again: sure, I don't like what Dell/Google did on the new Dell machines. Meh. But that post is filled with so many absurd inaccuracies that I have to simply disregard it. Most prominently: At the top of the page, he shows the exact text that appears on the "horrible" search results page. That text explains exactly how to remove that functionality: "This program can be uninstalled from the Control Panel "Add/Remove Programs" in Windows XP or "Control Panel > Program > Programs and Features" in Windows Vista. Look for the application named "Browser Address Error Redirector". Older versions may be called "GoogleAFE" or "URL Assistant"." He says this statement is "ambiguous". I have no idea how it is ambiguous, but ok. He then goes on to say the software is "hard to remove", and later that "users can't get rid of it!", both of which are outright lies. Installing and uninstalling software is a normal part of owning a computer, and as you can see above, Google's message tells users exactly what to uninstall. The entire process could be completed in 30 seconds. But I have to ask myself every time I read this article: why is this guy going to so much effort to spread inaccuracies that demonize Google for trapping search results and presenting ads? Well, because that is exactly how OpenDNS makes money, and Google threatened their business model. The entire first portion of the post, attacks and all, is present to justify this: "we’ve stretched a bit beyond DNS itself to work around Google’s mis-directed efforts." By going on the offensive, he now tries to justify providing a DNS service that OpeDNS doesn't just resolve hostnames anymore...instead, OpenDNS makes moral judgments about the domains you visit, and, as they trumpet so loudly, "we have a fix which does not require more client software". What this means to me is that whatever OpenDNS is doing, I can't uninstall it, because they own it -- it's not on my machine, it's on theirs. Listen, when I use DNS, there's a contract I expect DNS to fulfill: I give you a name, and you resolve it to an IP or tell me it can't be resolved. It is an outright violation of the contract to resolve a hostname I give you to an address other than that with which it is associated, which is exactly what OpenDNS is doing.

gojomo 17y ago

Very helpful to understand their motivation, thanks. Unfortunately their rationale still amounts to: others are doing something sleazy, so we have to do something sleazy, too, to defend ourselves. I don't own a Dell or run with any toolbars. I would find the "Browser Address Error Redirector" and remove it if I faced that warped experience. So for me, this unrequested proxying isn't help, it's collateral damage from two competing typosquatters/querysquatters each trying to one-up the other. A harder, but classier, way for OpenDNS to escalate their battle with Google would have been to offer a different set of DNS server IP addresses for customers who may want OpenDNS to trump Google/Dell.