OpenDNS categorizes Bing ad servers as Adware but not Google ad servers

in technology •  7 years ago  (edited)

Last week I opened one of my sites that streams Bing Ads and noticed the ads were blocked. As I do not use an ad blocker that would have blocked the ads, I first started trying to figure out what was going on by scratching my head.

After a few scratches, it occurred to me that OpenDNS could be the culprit as I do use that service for DNS resolution. Sure enough, it turns out Bing's ad servers/domain was categorized as Adware in early January, and I do block that category. So, I thought if they categorize Bing ads as adware, then they should also categorize Google ads as adware. I checked Google's ad serving domain and discovered it was not categorized as Adware.

What are you thoughts about this categorization? Many admins configure networks to use OpenDNS and block Adware. If they categorize Bing's ads as Adware but not Google's, they're effectively helping to extend Google's dominance in the market.

I figured this was just a misunderstanding by whomever had the power to create the categorization at OpenDNS and subsequently opened a case with them to re-categorize Bing's ad domain. They initially responded that the categorization is correct and they will not change it (are Google and Cisco, who owns OpenDNS, conspiring against Microsoft?). But the next day they replied they have requests from other users to reconsider and thus are re-evaluating the categorization.

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!
Sort Order:  

WOW!
Use 8.8.8.8 to resolve domains