Google’s 8.8.8.8 DNS Celebrates a Milestone!
As somebody that was married on 8/8/88 – I like those kind of dates… so check this out!
Google’s Public DNS reaches its 8.8.8.8th anniversary
The Inquirer – By: Chris Merriman – “The Google Public DNS service was launched in 2009 and allows users to route their internet traffic through its servers, using the IP address 8.8.8.8 and thus avoiding their own ISP. It often makes for a faster service, and in some cases, can get people online when they otherwise could not.
On Sunday 12 August 2018 at 0130BST, the Public DNS celebrated eight years, eight months, eight days and eight hours online.
Google is very proud of this feat. It has been instrumental in some public censorship battles – for example when internet access was blocked in Turkey.
Elsewhere, developing countries are using it for all kinds of things, which is facilitating Google’s ‘next billion users’ initiative.
For the rest of us, its frequently used in free public WiFi spots, information terminals, and of course our own routers – not least of all Google WiFi which defaults to 8.8.8.8 and its backup 8.8.4.4.
If you’ve never tried it – find the setting in your router and add it in place of your ISPs numbers – you may find you get a significant speed boost and improved security.
Of course, putting all your data through Google’s services might feel like a nightmare to the more suspicious out there. Google has given full transparency in how it uses the telemetry and more importantly, how it doesn’t.
Other similar services exist such as the venerable OpenDNS, now owned by Cisco, and the recently launched Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 option.
As one of the less publicised features of the Google empire, it’s surprising to even hear this being talked about, but in this case, there’s been a comment from Google. More is coming thanks to some ‘exciting Google Public DNS announcements in the near future.’
Comparing the Google service to some of its rivals, it’s quite clear that the possibilities for additional functionality such as parental locking and a premium service for businesses are quite possible. As long as the data it collects is done in a privacy-respecting way, we’re pretty cool with it. But that’s always an if.”