Alternate DNS

Alternate DNS is a public Domain Name System resolver that filters requests for domains associated with advertising, malware, and phishing^[1][2]. A user configures a device or network to send DNS lookups to the resolver instead of, or alongside, a default DNS service^[2].

Although listed in this encyclopedia's sensors and infrastructure area, Alternate DNS is presented publicly as a filtering service rather than as a seller of sensor observations or a commercial alternative-data feed. No public source reviewed for this article verifies that it licenses query logs, audience measurements, or derived datasets to third parties.

What It Does

DNS translates domain names into network addresses. Alternate DNS says it maintains a regularly updated database of known advertising domains and returns a null response when a requested domain matches that database^[2]. This can prevent a device from reaching the associated advertising host, without requiring a browser extension on each application.

The same approach has practical limits. DNS filtering acts on domains, not individual page elements, and a blocked domain may serve more than one type of content. Conversely, advertising delivered from an unlisted domain or from the same domain as desired content may not be removable through DNS matching alone. The provider's public pages do not publish independent measurements of blocking accuracy, latency, uptime, or false-positive rates.

Products

The official home page publishes a resolver address and describes a global ad-blocking DNS service^[1]. The FAQ also says that the operator maintains malware and phishing lists and that the resolver can be configured as either a primary or secondary service^[2]. It is not an authoritative name server and does not host users' domains or websites^[2].

AlternativeTo independently describes Alternate DNS as free public DNS servers that filter advertising and malware. It categorizes the service as proprietary and free, identifies DNS server functionality, and lists the developer as unknown^[3]. That directory entry corroborates the broad function but is not a technical audit or operational-status guarantee.

Delivery and Pricing

Delivery occurs through the standard DNS configuration of a compatible device or network. The provider says the service can be used on standards-compliant internet devices and with most internet service providers when the user is permitted to change DNS settings^[2]. It cautions that substituting an external resolver on an office network may interfere with access to private internal domains^[2].

The current landing page calls the service affordable but does not publish a price schedule, service-level agreement, or enterprise contract terms^[1]. AlternativeTo labels the public service free^[3]. The sources reviewed do not establish whether all listed filtering functions have identical terms or whether support, custom policies, encrypted DNS protocols, or business usage require a separate arrangement.

Data and Methodology

The disclosed filtering method is list-based domain matching at resolution time^[2]. The provider does not publicly explain on the fetched pages how domains are discovered, reviewed, removed after an erroneous classification, or assigned to the advertising, malware, or phishing lists. It also does not disclose list size or update frequency beyond describing the advertising database as regularly updated^[2].

No verified public documentation reviewed here describes a customer-facing API, bulk block-list download, historical query archive, or resale product. Alternate DNS should therefore not be represented as supplying an investable or research dataset without additional documentation from the operator.

Public Record

AlternativeTo records that its Alternate DNS listing was added in August 2015 and last updated in November 2023^[3]. Those dates describe the directory entry, not necessarily the incorporation or launch dates of the service. The official pages identify the operator as Alternate DNS, Inc., but the fetched material does not provide a corporate history or headquarters^[1].

The Internet Archive availability service reports an accessible snapshot for the domain, providing a route for comparing archived public representations of the service^[4]. An archived snapshot can document what a website displayed at a given time, but it does not itself verify resolver performance or continued availability.