Google launched a DNS service yesterday. Some would say finally. I wonder what took them so long to realize the strategic importance of DNS in an increasingly semantic web infrastructure. DNS is the lynchpin for consumers to safely navigate the web.

That said, you get what you 'pay' for and since this service is free, the user gets only what Google wants to give. Namely zero control. Which, as a marketing executive and as a consumer concerns me because it strips away choice. As a mom, I rely on the ability to block certain inappropriate content for my children. It doesn't appear that this sort of flexibility is available with Google's DNS. At least not yet. At least not for 'free'. 

Google's DNS should be pretty fast, given how much of the web infrastructure they already 'control'. I've been using a variety of services over the past year and have noticed that the more you pay, the quicker the redirects. There are 'free' DNS services available today; however, with Google's DNS, there aren't any annoying popups or ads (at least not yet…given time, I'm sure there will be). That said, with Google entering the DNS arena, it will expand the conversation that users don't have to 'settle' with what their ISP provider offers.

And of course, there is the issue of privacy (for those it still matters to). Google was one of the first companies to explore the boundaries between private and public information sharing. As the largest advertiser on the web, it is naive to think they won't use the DNS data to supplement their paid advertising program, even if they currently go out of their way to state this isn't in their game plan. Speed and reliability are two areas that Google will dominate. But access to filtering content? Not so much.

But control seems to be the underlying motive for Google to enter the DNS market – they get more control and consumers get less choice. From the ubiquitous Gmail to Analytics, from the Chrome OS to Search, Google is rapidly becoming to the web user experience what Microsoft was to desktop computing in the pre-Internet age. Monopoly is such a loaded phrase. Personally I prefer the live, collaborative nature of social communications online to get what I want (need) out of the web. Microcollaborations versus a singular monolithic company dictating how the web should be experienced. And Google can offer choice to users of their DNS service AND retain control. That's the beauty of the internet as a transactional and connected medium. 

Time will tell how this story unfolds. It is certainly one to watch.