Comments for Google Wants to Speed Up the Web: Launches Its Own DNS Service

Google Wants to Speed Up the Web: Launches Its Own DNS Service

2009-12-03T16:54:57Z

Google just launched the Google Public DNS. Just like OpenDNS, Google Public DNS will allow users to bypass their ISPs Domain Name Servers (DNS). DNS servers are, in many respects, the backbone of the Internet. DNS allows you to type a domain name like www.senate.gov into a browser instead of a machine-readable IP number like http://156.33.195.33/. Google argues that it wants to give consumers an alternative to their ISPs' DNS services in order to make the Internet "faster, safer and more reliable."

]]> According to Google product manager Prem Ramaswami, the company's engineers have been working to improve DNS over the last few months. Instead of performing DNS lookups on an ISP's DNS server, Google will use its data-center and caching infrastructure to resolve these domain names.

After SPDY (which augments HTTP), this is Google's second major project that touches upon the core infrastructure of the Web.

Using Google Public DNS

Google Public DNS uses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as its IP addresses. Advanced users will surely have no problem making the necessary changes to enable Google Public DNS. The company has also released a set of step-by-step instructions for Windows, Mac and Linux users that can be found here.

A First for Google: Phone Support for a Free Product

In addition, Google is also offering phone support, which, to our knowledge, is unprecedented. Given that a mistake in changing your DNS settings could easily make accessing the Internet impossible, this is probably a good solution in this specific case.

Privacy

According to Google's FAQ, the company will only keep temporary logs and erase all the information it collects through the public DNS service within 24 to 45 hours. The company promises not to keep any information that is linked to IP addresses in its permanent logs.

As of now, it doesn't look like Google offers any additional services besides the pure DNS lookup. Unlike OpenDNS, it doesn't block malware sites or present users with a list of alternative addresses (and ads) if it can't resolve an address.

Comment from maidofhonorspeeches on 2010-12-06

2010-12-06T11:34:30Z

Good question - it'll be interesting to see what comes of it.

Comment from Teeth Whitening Trays on 2010-12-05

2010-12-05T11:53:34Z

Don't put them down yet. They still have Android (which I tip to take over the iPhone). Although the competition from Facebook is going to really hot up over the next 12 months.

Comment from Online CFD Trading on 2010-12-04

2010-12-04T15:26:58Z

You mean the "failed" Google Buzz for example?(!) Ahem...

Comment from Buy Penny Stocks on 2010-12-03

2010-12-03T09:04:24Z

Yes but this is not the best one of them in my view. They don't always suceed. Look at their ventures into social media for example!

Comment from Toddler Sleep on 2010-12-02

2010-12-02T11:08:15Z

We are almost a year on from Google DNS now - the pace of progress is amazing with them. Just look at their 2010 accomplishments.

Comment from Metal Lunch Boxes on 2010-10-17

2010-10-17T14:49:32Z

Zeke - great comment, I think a little far out for me personally on some points but I agree with your general ethos. Google's "faster, safer and more reliable" speak is falling on deaf ears for many of us now.

Comment from Dave on 2010-10-16

2010-10-16T14:21:03Z

Mmmmm, I suppose we have to take Google's word on its privacy policy then?

Comment from Bill on 2010-05-11

2010-05-11T20:15:38Z

TODAY they will delete and not retain any info.

Comment from Williamwatson on 2010-04-29

2010-04-29T07:30:23Z

This site is a really great initiative and it was good hear the viewpoints of the individuals who feature posing some interesting questions and insights

Comment from Link building services on 2010-04-28

2010-04-29T04:40:34Z

I am not sure what is the benefit of this move by google to internet users. But for sure this is another move by Giant G to slowly control the internet world.

Comment from Mark Downson on 2010-04-14

2010-04-15T06:58:37Z

When you use Google Public DNS, you are changing your DNS "switchboard" operator from your ISP to Google Public DNS.

In most cases, the IP addresses used by your ISP's domain name servers are automatically set by your ISP via the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). To use Google Public DNS, you need to explicitly change the DNS settings in your operating system or device to use the Google Public DNS IP addresses. The procedure for changing your DNS settings varies according to operating system and version (Windows, Mac or Linux) or the device (computer, phone, or router). We give general procedures here that might not apply for your OS or device; please consult your vendor documentation for authoritative information.

Comment from Spongebob Squarepants on 2010-04-12

2010-04-13T00:28:39Z

This is interesting stuff.

However, you forget one thing: background images imported from CSS files. How do you use your versioning trick with them ??

Comment from segdeha.com on 2010-01-27

2010-01-28T06:54:02Z

It would be interesting to see the results of traceroute and ping commands for other people hitting Google's DNS servers. Here are mine, from Auckland, New Zealand:

traceroute: 16 hops, average of nearly 200ms per hop
ping: ~220ms response time

Those results are definitely slower that my local ISP, but since I use OpenDNS anyway (I've found my ISP's DNS to be less than reliable), I'm going to try Google's offering for a while.

Comment from james on 2010-01-21

2010-01-21T14:44:09Z

wow more ways to track you first search then the chrome with suspicious looking eye logo/icon now they want to fully watch you with this dns bull business

Comment from Link Building Services on 2010-01-07

2010-01-07T21:04:38Z

Yes i agree with Michael above. Google is the undisputed leader of all times.

Great article BTW. Learnt so much:)

Comment from Clarkson on 2010-01-05

2010-01-05T09:25:38Z

Using *any* other external DNS server is better than your ISP DNS for sure - they are notoriously slow. If not Google, use Google to find others, there are many.

Comment from Michael Florin on 2009-12-10

2009-12-10T22:24:08Z

Google is taking over the world!

Comment from RI on 2009-12-06

2009-12-06T11:10:55Z

An industry giant is pretending to be an innovator. They are not actually. They are buyers)))
I am beginning to go away from their service slowly.

Comment from Zeke Shadfurman on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T23:12:15Z

I do think it's a little conspiracy theory to jump to the conclusion that Google is trying to dominate the web. It's not based on evidence, it's simply based on a preconceived mindset, much like whether or not a person believes in god. If you start from a certain preconceived notion often all the evidence points to support your claim.

To a person that believes that Google is intent on taking over the internet, this is just another brick in their wall of domination. However to a person who believes that Google is just trying to push the innovation of the internet into a faster pace than the crawl of a petrified snail it's been taking since its conception nearly half a century ago, only further solidifies the ideology of "Don't be evil" (of course assuming that one believes that innovation is a good thing)

Quite frankly the pace at which the industry is facading standards to support innovation leaves Google with few options to push the industry other than to use its acquired might and industry image. Whether or not a product they release becomes a standard (which is fairly unlikely) it gives them an image of innovation people can see (its kinda hard to see or understand innovative search algorithms) and helps drive the publicly accepted level of technology. Its really a win win situation.

Until we are ACTUALLY forced to use Google technology or services I call FUD to anyone saying we are. For most practical purposes Yahoo, Bing or any other of the searches will yield sufficiently similar results, and there are other options for all of Googles services. That fact that many of them are free does not force your hand. I seldom use more than Google search and Chrome as I prefer other options to googles.

So to all you paranoid victocrates terrified of capitalistic society, speaking to your limited capacity for innovative intellect, I suggest you find an ecosystem of economy more suited to your palate, perhaps somewhere beyond the reaching arm of your perceived shadow of big brother and corrupt corporations. Cause I will fight tooth and nail to the day I die to protect the right of people and corporations to act in their own interests (or not if they choose) regardless of consequence and let the dynamics of the market and of the universe choose their fate.

The arrogance that comes from so many people, barely able to grasp the intellect and and discipline to manage their own finances and only able to parrot information and formula indoctrinated into their brains by so called institutions of learning, believing themselves to know better than those propelling the success and innovation of so many corporations and thereby a countries economy. These arrogant people can only damage an economy by restricting the freedoms in an effort to control a system that is beyond the intellect of 99% of the worlds population to fully understand.

(I do not claim to have any such advanced intellect, I do however have enough humility to understand the limits of my intellect.)

Comment from Bill Hudson - OK on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T22:11:43Z

Go Darth Wader! OMG finally it's nice to here someone else with a level head that's not scared big brother is going to catch them doing absolutely nothing. You'd think these people are international spies or something the way they are so scared their going to be seen doing something.

And go Google, I for one am tired of paying piles of money for software. In fact I think it's because of Google that Microsoft is finally thinking they better give some things away also. If you give some things for free, people use your product, your standards are standard, people want your product. I don't know how many Visual Studio's I've bought, but I do know the latest Express version I got was FREE. Lets see how many more websites will now be Microsoft technology for the first time.

I love it

PS: I hope nobody see's this, they'll know what I'm up to.

Comment from Kevin Carey on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T21:52:52Z

This would be a great thing if it works!

Kevin Carey
http://iblog.at/careymarketing/

Comment from Jay K. on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T19:31:36Z

Any idea if they'll open up a dynamic DNS service for free?

Comment from Joe on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T18:59:44Z

Darth Wader misses the point about privacy concerns pertaining to Google. I, for one, do indeed care about corporations amassing personal information about me. Google, just as any other corporation, is required by law to give any or all of that information to government authorities or agencies by means of subpoena. They may also be required to hand it over in civil cases as well. Furthermore, just as any other corporation, Google may choose to sell that information to third parties, some of whom may not be trustworthy.

Comment from Stephen on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T18:59:37Z

Great news

Comment from Ferdinand Emy on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T14:59:42Z

I think Google has more undisclosed agenda behind this

Comment from willemijns on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T12:57:22Z

look for "vivilproject dns" on a search engine or http://80.247.230.136/dns.htm and list a lot of public DNS other than google dns and opendns... i do not love my private surf can be tracked for ads reasons :-(

Comment from Darth Wader on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T09:58:54Z

Could you all please STFU. If you don't like what Google is doing then don't use their services. Is that so hard?

Everyone's all about "Google will own us", "Google knows stuff about me"... and I ask SO WHAT? :)

So what if Google knows I like to surf certain page types. So what if they know every detail of my personal life. It's not like they will come and rob me or anything. And so far all I experienced were higher service quality.

You have to be masochist. For me personally Google knowing more stuff about me, means less digging around the net when I need to find something. And NEVER-EVER I have heard of Google giving your private data.

Does anyone really know why banks are pushing credit cards so hard? It's because you are easier to track that way. Do you care? Of course not... You still go shopping. But NOOO when it comes to Google (or anyone else for that matter) tracking anything... it's all evil and conspiracy... Just a bunch of paranoid people. You should read Google's code of conduct... "Don't be evil!" I believe is one of their main rules...

Yes yes, many of you will thing am a mindless Google fan-boy. But really am not. I like using their services but still. If anyone tries to make a world better place, just give him a chance... we can always stop using Google if we feel they are doing something bad. At least someone is trying. Maybe their goals are wrong, but if they make world a better place in process, why the hell not. It's not like they are taking your money... just think, Microsoft is charging you shit-load of money for their software and they still can't (and probably will not) make stable and secure OS. Because it is in their interest to make all of you buy every new OS they make.

I don't want to start OS war here... just saying... it's free, and it's getting better by the day.

I think all who think that any kind of progress is just a master plan for world domination should throw away every piece of technology they own and go to jungle. There you will feel :) more comfortable than anywhere on this planet. But maybe the trees are plotting a plan of world domination too...

Comment from ShaneOsborne on 2009-12-04

2009-12-04T09:29:12Z

I think this is currently a bit misleading for some people.

Google says this will speed up the web as a alternative to their current ISP or Open DNS. Well this may be true for some people but we performed some tests on this server with a couple of different DNS servers and the speed was not brilliant.

I think people should check their own DNS and only really move if they have issues or they know their DNS is slow.

Good to offer as a service, also think about the data we are all giving google for free :)

Wonder what their plans are for the data and how this will effect their seo results, tracking, personalisation etc

Shane

Comment from L kim on 2009-12-03

2009-12-04T07:33:48Z

INNOVATION

Comment from Juan on 2009-12-03

2009-12-04T07:05:42Z

As I see it, this can lead for google to rule Internet, becuase, Domains rely on DNS, so, if everybody starts asking google servers for name resolution, them they just can start adding new names at will, and eventually owning Internet, one of the request the EU has made to US about Internet is that the Main (root) DNS servers are controlled by US, so if for some reason US desides to delete a country domain, that country will be invisible to name resolution.
So, if Google get that power just imagine.

Comment from Kraig on 2009-12-03

2009-12-04T06:47:23Z

Google has also taken a strong stance for net neutrality, and providing things like this is a step towards that goal. For example, my ISP (East-link, East coast of Canada) recently decided to return paid add results for un-resolvable queries. You can opt out, but that is cookie based so every time you clear your cookies you have to re-opt out. If they think its OK to provide me with useless, unrequested content that I didn't want and reduce the functionality of my browser, what will the be OK with next.

Like Chrome, SPDY, and numerous other initiatives google has taken, its about improving the web (and increasing their market share by being at the head of that wave of innovation). The more powerful they make the web, the more you're going to want and need to use their services. I don't see this as particularly evil, because the only thing I agree with Chloe above on is that a company is driven by its wallet. They are doing what is best for their company. I just believe her and many others are taking too short-sided a view on what they are doing, and what benefits google doesn't come at the detriment to the user, at least not all the time.

Comment from Matt on 2009-12-03

2009-12-04T06:06:25Z

Pretty much anything Google touches breaks until at least a few months of "public testing" has been out the way...much the same as a new OS - and at the end of the day, the more information Google has about internet usage, the more they can monopolise because they know the true stats....knowledge is power!

Wish them the best of luck, but if it breaks once in the public eye, all hell could break loose - which could also have a negative impact on the end-user's perception of any one company they're viewing at the time. If Google to take over the technological world (which looks feasible given the tools and facilities they have out there), we're all slaves to Google.

Comment from Mazz on 2009-12-03

2009-12-04T05:30:52Z

I think that its a great thing, although I may have some reservations, all in all I feel that it is a fabulous development.

Comment from Chloe on 2009-12-03

2009-12-04T04:25:04Z

Ha! If you use this, Google will know your IP, and it will also know the IP you are logged into Google with, so it will match them up. Now, if you visit Japanese porno sites, it will serve ads for Japanese porno in your Gmail!

This also cuts cost for them. If people use Google DNS instead of OpenDNS, then Google does not have to pay OpenDNS ad commissions for any ads served on OpenDNS. This is also the reason the developed and released Chrome. Mozilla's default search is Google w/ads. Mozilla makes hundreds of millions of dollars. If Google can spend just one million to develop a new browser and get people to use it, then they can pay Mozilla less commissions and keep 100% ad revenue.

If you ever want to know why a company does something, just think of economics. The sole purpose of any company (esp. public) is to make money.

Joe is correct and anyone living on the East coast may not experience a speed increase since Google is in California, unless their ISP is very slow, which some are. It's a rather minuscule improvement, since a lookup takes only a few milliseconds, is cached by your browser or OS, and is only done once for the first visit.

Comment from Simi on 2009-12-03

2009-12-04T03:21:53Z

These days i find my search in google is becoming a headache for me. many and almost 90% of googles pages sends a virus or starts installing a virus. the same site when opened through yahoo are fine and good. google pls see what is happening. thanks

Comment from tom on 2009-12-03

2009-12-04T01:25:10Z

Bruce, it makes the web faster. A faster web => more web usage. And more web usage is good for Google.

Comment from curious on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T22:51:45Z

Am curious to know if there would be any other reason beyond speed for end users to bypass their ISPs DNS?

Comment from Jensen Gelfond on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T22:35:38Z

Does anyone have a response to Joe? If he is correct, this would mean each person should be very careful about signing up for this since it would only help (and might even hurt) the browsing experience depending on where the individual is. Do we know where Google's servers are, and is that a relevant piece of knowledge when deciding whether to sign up for this?

Thanks.

Comment from Joe on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T20:25:30Z

You gotta read the fine print. At the very bottom of Google's explanation of the new DNS service, they put in a disclaimer about speed. My understanding is that if the DNS is geographically far from you, then speed will be slower. Therefore, sticking with your ISP's DNS server may make more sense. Here's the Google disclaimer:

Note, however, that because nameservers geolocate according to the resolver's IP address rather than the user's, Google Public DNS has the same limitations as other open DNS services: that is, the server to which a user is referred might be farther away than one to which a local DNS provider would have referred. This could cause a slower browsing experience for certain sites.

Comment from leo on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T20:08:45Z

dns is the last distributed infrastructure left, it amazingly distribute the power of naming meaning that you trust the dns network to resolve the www.whatever.com to the actual ip address on the server.
if network moves back to the central model you will have the naming power in one place and then lets say google can add another fantastic service, for example,
if cnn.com goes off-line, and the google dns service saw that you ask for, the cnn,com site it will be able to redirect you to the cached version of the site, or shall i say, the censored version of the site.

Keep the net distributed too much power in one place is the past not the future

Comment from Cherry Casinos on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T19:52:40Z

Very spooky idea!
Free will usually cost you something in the end.
(I'm usually not this paranoid)

Comment from Napolux on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T19:25:29Z

Cool, if I can test it on my voip line I'll surely give it a try ;)

Comment from Malvinder Virdi on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T19:16:18Z

Nice really nice

Comment from Antonio on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T18:13:51Z

Not really seeing a speed difference but I am already on a fast connection.

Comment from Web O' Naut on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T18:04:11Z

yeah google is really owning the internet!

Comment from David Ferguson on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T17:57:40Z

Yay! SkyNet, I mean Google, has a new service :)

Comment from Bill on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T17:52:38Z

Very nifty way to collect aggregate data on all of the websites people are actually browsing, even if Google wasn't used as the search engine.

That's what Google gets from this.

Comment from Dean Saliba on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T17:50:08Z

Google trying to own even more of the internet I see. :P

Is there anything they don't have a share in?

Comment from bradfitz on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T17:43:55Z

Bruce, it makes the web faster. A faster web => more web usage. And more web usage is good for Google.

Comment from Bruce Colwin on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T17:33:02Z

Interesting. I'll naively ask "What's in it for them?"