I noticed something interesting today. Apparently my internet provider which shall remain nameless, or shall be called cablevision, has decided to provide their own search engine for me, even if I don't want to use it.

What I mean is, when I type something in the address bar that isn't a valid URL, the browser steps in and does a search using the provider I specified. That is normal.

However, if I type in a valid (by syntax) URL that can't be resolved, like www.vbforums.con, then my ISP intercepts the DNS error, and gives me a search results page from their search engine.

There are no ads on the search page (yet), except for sponsored search results which of course appear before any real search results.

What do you think of this practice?