We love OpenDNS but for one annoying feature where OpenDNS automatically redirects typos and invalid URLs to their own ad-filled search pages as in this screenshot.
Let me explain – if you type a non-existent web domain in your web browser (e.g. gmail.coms instead of gmail.com), you’ll land up on OpenDNS search page and won’t see the default "Address Not Found" error in your browser.
If you like to change the default behavior and prevent OpenDNS from displaying "search suggestions," here’s a very easy workaround.
Step 1. Go to OpenDNS.com and register for a free account.
Step 2. Associate the IP address of your local computer to your OpenDNS account. There are two possibilities here – your ISP may have assigned you a static IP (that doesn’t change) or your IP could be dynamic meaning you are assigned a new one each time you connect to the Internet.
If your computer is assigned a dynamic IP, go here and download the OpenDNS desktop client (available for Mac & Windows). It runs in the background and communicates your IP address changes to OpenDNS at regular intervals. Static IP owners may skip this step.
Step 3. Open OpenDNS Dashboard -> Networks, type your IP address and click "add this network." – your IP address, whether static or dynamic, is listed at the top right corner of OpenDNS website.
Step 4. Once you have associated your IP address with OpenDNS, go to Dashboard -> Settings -> Advanced Settings and uncheck "Enable typo correction" under Domain Typos. Apply the changes, wait for five minutes and you’ll see the standard browser error messages and not the OpenDNS branded Yahoo! search results.
Wish this was the default setting but again, that’s the business model of OpenDNS and hence perfectly acceptable. If you are using Firefox with Google Search, you may also want to check this trick on redirecting Google searches.
Related: Airtel DNS Redirects Domain Typos
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/internet/stop-opendns-from-redirecting-domain-typos/4112/
Tags: 404, Archives, dns, hijack, ip address, opendns, Internet
Reader Comments
I’m not sure why it’s better to go to some other person’s ad-filled typo redirect instead of the openDNS page.
Seems like the devil you know is better.
Written by mrshl on 08.04.08
You will be redirected to OpenDNS search page only if the page you are trying to reach doesn’t exist.
Written by Amit Agarwal on 08.04.08
While it was briefly alluded to in this article, please let me stress that this is how OpenDNS makes their money (albeit, large sums of it).
Personally, yes, I also find this redirect mildly annoying, but considering the security, speed improvements, and network manageability that OpenDNS freely provides… I’ll live with it.
…Neat trick though, and thanks for the post – in the end, it is always good to have options!
Written by USBman on 08.04.08
To give it a number, they make about $20,000 per day because of those pages. This is what allows them to offer the service for free…. and what a service it is… :)
Written by Vaibhav on 08.04.08
For those having dynamic IP and do not like running a program just for this purpose, you can do this, add an entry in hosts file(C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) to redirect guide.opendns.com to a non existing IP, like this
99.99.99.99 guide.opendns.com
Written by Shafeek Mohammed on 08.04.08
I agree with what USBman says. This is how they make money, and why not? They provide the service for free. For the security and speed alone, I think I’ll live with it too.
Written by Santosh on 08.04.08
When you land up at the OpenDNS search page becuase of a typo, it’s possible that you might not recollect the site name exactly. The search page will help you to get where you want, in most cases. It’s a good, free service, so I really don’t mind those pages.
Written by Ankur Banerjee on 08.05.08
The “search page” tells the user WHY the site has failed loading. No other site tells that. Anyways, it’s a SHAME to give tipps how to kill a company :(
Written by Me on 08.05.08
Folks – this is not any hack but just a simple way to explain an “official” OpenDNS feature that many of us are not aware of.
Written by Amit Agarwal on 08.06.08
hello,
why it need to redirect to opendns when domain is not valid? how did opendns do this? i suspect opendns is the collaboration of mozilla firefox? and why my other pc dosn’t redirect to opendns? how to remove opendns sh?t to my redirection. wtf!
Written by andrei on 08.21.08
@andrei:
Your assertion makes no sense, Mozilla earns the lion share of their money with google. ;)
Personally I don’t mind ads – but this crappy error page turns my URIs into garbage, that’s all there is. If anybody knows how to preserve the URI I’m fine.
Written by christian on 11.14.08