I was running a mailserver in a network where OpenDNS was the default. Outgoing e-mail where the domain-name was misspelled would linger in the queue for five days, instead of failing immediately, while the SMTP server attempted to deliver to OpenDNS' catch-all host. Apparently, if there isn't a MX record, it's standard to attempt delivery to the A record.
After watching the CEO of OpenDNS spread tons of FUD on Hacker News itself, I will be switching to Google.<p>Pro-tip: compete by being better, not by spreading FUD about your competition the second they appear.
I posted a comparison here, from AT&T in IL: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=977389" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=977389</a><p>Short summary:<p><pre><code> nsping -z amazon.com 208.67.222.222
nsping -z amazon.com 8.8.8.8
nsping -h www.amazon.com 208.67.222.222
nsping -h www.amazon.com 8.8.8.8
</code></pre>
Pretty straightforward (-h tests a single A record, -z, the default, tests random labels under a zone).<p>OpenDNS was faster than Google for me, but slower than my own ISP. However, the numbers are under the noise floor; Google DNS is plenty fast, and bound to be more reliable than your ISP. It also doesn't break the DNS like OpenDNS does.<p>My point isn't that I know which is faster, but that it's really easy to just test for yourself.
Off-topic perhaps, but that is an atrocious use of blogging for affiliate marketing dollars.<p>Maybe it's time to hunt down an ad blocking extension for Chrome.