Verizon's trial of the service has been constrained so far to the midwestern US, primarily in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Users have the opportunity to opt out of the service, though, although some have reported that the opt-out instructions did not work for them.
The service redirects users who mistype URLs to an Verizon-run search page (complete with referral links). For example, the service may break applications that rely on NXDOMAIN messages and, in some cases, could override other search results pages. Verizon has been implementing a DNS redirection service for select DSL and FiOS customers. Verizon acknowledges, however, that the Advanced Web Search may cause problems for some users. Eventually, VeriSign eventually settled the suit with ICANN the settlement barred VeriSign from relaunching Site Finder in exchange for maintaining control of. VeriSign sued ICANN for violation of antitrust laws by preventing VeriSign from adding "features" to top-level domains.
The attempt to "profit" off of users' typos bring back fond memories of the VeriSign Site Finder debacle, wherein VeriSign implemented a similar service for mistyped top-level domains but was then barred by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) from doing so. Of course, Verizon's Advanced Web Search is just another version of OpenDNS-type services-when a user mistypes something in the address bar or tries to go to a nonexistent web site, it not only displays search results but also ads. Verizon claims that this new service is "designed to reduce the amount of dead-end, 'no file exists' or similar error messages you see." The service, called "Advanced Web Search," and first noticed by a reader at Broadband Reports, will provide a listing of links that may be relevant to what the user was trying to get to if they accidentally typed things like arstechnica.cmo or into the address bar. Verizon has begun to use URL redirection services in some markets to "help" users when they mistype URLs.
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