Domain Helper Disclosure
Comcast is committed to transparency in our network practices. We have shared details and answered questions about our launch of the Domain Helper service, both in our blog, in popular web forums and in other documents. We have also worked to ensure that customers are aware of how they can quickly and easily opt-out if they so desire.
On this page, we will provide more details on how our DNS redirects works.
Recent Updates:
Domain Helper National Rollout Begins -- Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Domain Helper was deployed to all markets today.
Domain Helper Market Tests Begin -- Thursday, July 9, 2009
Domain Helper was introduced in several trial markets today.
How Does Domain Helper Work?
Domain Helper works by redirecting a web user to a search portal when the user enters a non-existent domain name into the browser bar. In order to receive a redirect, the non-existent domain name must match the following pattern:
www.SOME-INVALID-NAME.com
- The entry must include "www" followed by a dot ("www.")
- The entry must have a dot followed by a valid Top Level Domain ("TLD"), such as .com, .net, .org, or any other valid TLD
- The name typed between "www." and ".com/net/org" must not exist among registered domain names
- Some web browsers may add the “www” or “.com” to a URL if they do not exist
We will eventually phase in the following pattern matches to enhance this service in the future:
(1) SOME-INVALID-NAME.com
(2) SOME-INVALID-NAME.cmm
(3) INVALID.SOME-VALID-NAME.com
(4) INVALID.SOME-VALID-NAME.cmm
(5) VALID.SOME-VALID-NAME.cmm
(6) VALID.SOME-VALID-NAME
(7) INVALID.SOME-VALID-NAME
- The entry may have a valid (.com/.net/.org) or invalid TLD (.cmm/.ner/.orf)
- The name typed between the first (".") and the second dot (".") may or may not exist among registered domain names - in this case, the prefix or TLD is either invalid or missing
- Redirection will only occur if the DNS request returns an NXDOMAIN response