Google News, Inside.

I recently started using OpenDNS again because I was unhappy with the speed of the current DNS that Time Warner was providing me here in New York. When I find something that is unacceptable, I quickly go find something that is acceptable to me. With that in mind, this does not mean I encourage the use of OpenDNS yet, I am simply giving it another shot.

Previously, using my old DNS, I would simply input a keyword into Firefox and it would automatically send me to the first hit. For example, I have been working with QuickBooks lately and I would simply enter “quickbooks” and it would send me to the QuickBooks website — no questions asked.

After transitioning to the new OpenDNS servers at my router-level, this is not the case anymore. Rather than sending me to the Intuit website, it redirects me to their search page for that keyword. That’s cool ‘n all and I understand that’s how they generate revenue (from the ads), but it should be optional to be taken to that search page.

Additionally, it uses Yahoo! for search. I cannot stand Yahoo! search because, well, to be honest, it sucks. Google search is so innately better that I cannot stand using any other search engine unless I am checking rankings. I should be able to choose which search engine that it uses by default and I should be able to choose whether it does a search right away or it goes straight to the first hit.

I will continue to use OpenDNS for the time being to give it its second shot, but I am likely to find another alternative that is just as good — or better — than OpenDNS. It’s a great idea, but they need to continue development and expand those options to be available to the end-user [me].