OpenDNS creates keyword searches - but Firefox already does it
There’s been a bit of talk about a new service provided by OpenDNS, a ‘free domain name service’, which allows users to create keywords, such as typing in ‘blog’ in your address bar to go to King Gary, or typing in ‘g king gary’ to search Google for ‘king gary‘. It does this by replacing each search term with a URL that you specify on their website. In order to make this all work, you have to modify your ‘hosts’ file, which is already a task that some people are either unsure of how to perform, or are simply unwilling to do so just because they don’t want to play around with something that isn’t usually intended for them to play with.
This service is pretty cool - but it’s something that Firefox already provides (as does Opera, and several other browsers), right out of the box. Which is why I don’t see what’s so cool about this particular service, especially when it requires at least a little technical insight, whereas something like Firefox is much more widely used and supported, making it easier to find help when needed.
This service is also similar to YubNub, which is also very similar to Firefox’s built-in features, but it at least also adds a few new twists to it, such as being able to use more than one argument, and being able to keep statistics of searches in order to see which ones are the most popular.
I can say with a fair amount of certainty that keyword searches is not a major thing among most browser users, and even if they knew about it, they wouldn’t really be willing to give it a go. This can be attributed partly to the fact that most people use Google for most things, such as showing you the weather, giving you stock quotes, and calculating whatever you throw at it. Why would you ever want to leave mother Google (and Firefox), anyways?
Do you prefer OpenDNS or Firefox for using search keywords? Take your pick below!
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You don’t have to modify your hosts files to get OpenDNS and shortcuts working. As David mentioned in a comment on my post, it’s all about not having to rely on the software to do everything for you and “making the address bar smart”. For me, I use several computers throughout the house and this way I don’t have to setup Firefox keywords on each one.. just have to setup OpenDNS shortcuts once.
Paul, you’re right, you don’t have to modify the hosts file. It was an assumption I made after quickly going through the installation procedures for Mac OS X (since that’s what I’m on, so I assumed the steps for Windows XP). I just went through the installation for XP, and it still seems like it requires more technical stuff than what most people are willing to go through, which is why I would consider it far from revolutionary.
Regarding Firefox keywords, there’s always the option of synchronizing bookmarks across computers, etc. but I can see where you’re coming from, as syncing bookmarks will replace existing ones, which may not be the desired effect.
Still though, I’ll stick with my Firefox keywords for now until the service provides more than what I’m used to getting
Gary, our step-by-step instructions at http://www.opendns.com/start/ make changing DNS as easy as typing in two numbers — our instructions are just about _where_ to change those two numbers, since it’s not necessarily common knowledge.
Shortcuts are a feature of OpenDNS, but hardly the only reason to use our service. We’re aware of YubNub and the various browser options. They are great. We think, though, that being browser and computer agnostic is a useful trait, and the network level settings are a boon to more and more computer users, whether at home or at work. Others had done search and browsers before… should Google and Firefox have never started work?
You can use OpenDNS without shortcuts. Like most everything about OpenDNS, the DNS preferences are configurable by you with a free account, static or dynamic IP address.
Cheers,
John Roberts
OpenDNS
Hmm, this is a cool idea, but not enough to make me want to switch to them. Faster internet browsing sounds good, but how long do DNS requests really take anyway? And DNS records are cached locally, so the speed would only increase on the first request to a particular domain. Unless I am misunderstanding something here.
@Paul - speed is one factor. And DNS records are cached locally for a very short period of time. There’s also reliability, safety (maybe phishing isn’t that big a risk for you, but maybe for other people you know), and smarts (shortcuts + TLD typo correction, etc.).
Up to you.
Phishing protection would be nice, and DNS caching is good, but I just don’t see a killer feature that makes me want to switch to another DNS. If I could blacklist certain domains, that might be enough to make me switch (I can currently do this through my router, but only a small number of them and the interface is bad).
Another issue is privacy. I get the impression that you guys are more trustworthy than my current ISP, but all I could find about DNS privacy was a section of the FAQ that says “which domain names were requested at what time” is tracked. I assume this information is not attached to a name or any way to identify the user, but it could be a bit more clear. Also, the Privacy Policy seems to relate only to the website, not the DNS service.
@Paul Butler — pay attention to blog.opendns.com for news about blocking domains in mid/late May. The privacy policy is about both website and DNS service, and makes differences clear (where there are any).
John,
What will happen when a domain name is blocked? What shows up in place of the expected site? I’ve never actually blocked a site from myself, so I have no clue what I would expect. A fake 404? 503? about:blank?
On a side note, it seems to me that this would be a great way to disallow people, such as family members, from accessing certain sites that you don’t want them to see, without them ever realizing it…
Gary, you’ll see. Stay tuned to http://blog.opendns.com/ Basic point = we’ll be very clear about the entire experience, and you can choose (or not) to take advantage of it.
John, alright, sounds good.
John, cool - I will definitely consider switching when this feature comes out.
Gary - When I block websites with my router, it tells me “the connection was reset” (in FireFox). OpenDNS may decide to redirect it to a page on one of their servers with a nicer looking message explaining that the domain is blocked (it appears they do this for their phishing filter). Since it is blocked through DNS, I don’t think they need to send an HTTP error; they would have to spoof the domain to direct to their servers before sending an HTTP code. I could be wrong though.
Currently i am using Firefox feature but i will switch it soon. There are some statements to make it right when switching.
AAAA!!! My comments tally! Nooo….
Why not just use bookmarks in combination with the Google search box at the top right of the browser :p
Hi thanks for adding my blog into ur technorati favs and i added urs and feel free in visiting my blog
THis blog is great. listen I hope you will add my link here and I also need for you to subscribe to my blog just cclick ont the feed button on my blog I need so many in order to join this ad thing. Also do not forget to join my communtiy even tho it is small.and add me to your technorati favorites. I tried to use firefox but it is to confusing for a newbie like me. I cant even upload content from another blog onto my blog for people to read from there I do not know how to do you?
King: listen your information is realy interesting and very useful Id really wish you would consider co-author on my blog you would not have to do it all the time just now and then would be great and my visitors could benifit from your expertise. Send me an e-mail only and let me know, so I can put your name down and this way when you want to enter my blog to write something down you can. Also I hope you will join my community even tho its small and put my link on your blog.. thanks
Curious, sorry, but I’m not looking to co-author any other blogs any time soon. Thanks for the offer anyways!
Btw, Avant Browser provides same keyword functionality. If my memory is correct you can browse google with typing gg to browser field.
Greenflash, many browsers have this functionality by now. Opera, Firefox, to name a few.
John,
A friend recently told me I should use OpenDNS because my ISP was having problems. I’ve tried it out more extensively than before, and I gotta say that so far, I’m impressed.
Thanks for making a great product!