Google wants to see IP
In yet another step by Google towards becoming lord and master of the online world, the firm has announced its new public Domain Name System (DNS) server, which will enable people to go through Google rather than their ISPs to get to any website.
Google's product manager Prem Ramaswami made the announcement in a blog, saying the firm wanted to speed up everything to do with DNS interactions, which convert text URLs to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.
"You could think of it as the switchboard of the Internet, converting easy-to-remember domain names - e.g.,www.google.com - into the unique Internet Protocol (IP) numbers - e.g., 74.125.45.100 - that computers use to communicate with one another," explained Ramaswami.
He went on to explain that because the average Internet user ends up performing hundreds of DNS lookups each day, and some complex pages require multiple DNS lookups before they start loading, the whole process can really bog down the browsing experience.
So to speed up the process, Google says its boffins have found a way to turn Google itself into a global DNS service "to make users' web-surfing experiences faster, safer and more reliable," according to Ramaswami.
The firm is already inviting "web-savvy" users to check it out, saying that if you're comfortable with changing your network settings, you should "check out the Google Code Blog for detailed instructions and more information on how to set up Google Public DNS on your computer or router."
So, what's in it for Google? The firm is steadfastly sticking to its line of speeding up the net, but there's an awful lot of valuable information to be gleaned from DNS related work. For example, Google would be able to know where servers were physically located, what web sites people visited and with what frequency, all valuable, monetisable information.
Way to add to your own self-importance, Google.