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Website Categorization Blog

Preparing for the End of Third-Party Cookies

It’s almost the end of an era in advertising. Google has started phasing out third-party cookies, beginning with 1% of Chrome users in January 2024. It plans to do the same for all users by the second half of the year through the Privacy Sandbox initiative.

To recall, Google’s Privacy Sandbox is a set of proposals for creating new standards for online privacy. The core idea is to develop methods for websites and advertisers to access user information for things like advertising and content recommendations without compromising user privacy. Among its key goals? Phasing out third-party cookies.

The Real Dangers NSFW Websites Pose, It’s Not Just about Productivity

Do you ever wonder why many organizations block employee access to not-safe-for-work (NSFW) websites?

Content filtering, the process of blocking access to NSFW websites, has long been believed to be just about improving employee productivity. And that’s not surprising since a survey indicated that 58% of employees spend at least four hours a week or 26 workdays a year on websites unrelated to their job.

WhoisXML API Launches Website Categorization API V3

We are excited to introduce Website Categorization API V3, the latest addition to our Website Categorization product line. This innovative release enables more accurate website classification with its enhanced website categorization model and additional output data points.

Specific improvements to this version of Website Categorization API include:

What to Consider When Choosing a Web Categorization API Vendor

A fundamental requirement of website categorization is accurately classifying websites into relevant categories. But that can be challenging, as the task typically requires targeted web expertise and a multitude of system resources. Therefore, to improve their web categorizing capabilities, large companies and solution providers often need the help of a reliable third-party API.

In this post, we listed the essential considerations when evaluating potential website categorization API providers.

Getting JSON Lines from an API Call into a CSV File via UNIX Command Line

WhoisXML API offers, via API calls, a lot of information on domains or IP addresses that is very useful for a number of applications, including cybersecurity investigations, domain appraisal or system administration. Imagine that one is given a long list of domain names, and one is interested in each domain's details, e.g., WHOIS or website categories, etc. In each API call, a single domain name is sent, and its data is returned in JSON format. (Some of the APIs of WhoisXML API offer bulk lookups, too, but we will not deal with this possibility here.) To get an overview of the data, analysts often prefer to have everything in a single csv file; one line for each domain. This can be opened by popular office spreadsheets like Excel or LibreOffice Calc, or sent to other kinds of processing. 

Top 5 Use Cases of WhoisXML API’s New Website Categorization API

Top 5 Use Cases of WhoisXML API’s New Website Categorization API

WhoisXML API’s website categorization products have been helping organizations determine the authenticity and reliability of sites by scanning the meta tags and content of more than 152 million websites. The machine learning (ML)-driven process allows organizations to detect suspicious domains, align their site categories with their marketing messages, and target the right leads, to name a few.

Today, the tools have been made more massive by adopting the classifications used by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB). IAB’s content classification taxonomy has become a standard in the industry, along with other solutions that aim to promote brand safety, ad fraud prevention, and consumer privacy.

Besides the number of categories, Website Categorization Lookup and Website Categorization API also have improved functionalities that provide users with much-needed accuracy and confidence.

Website Categorization Explained - Complete Guide For Your Business

Great attention has been directed lately towards website categorization; a cybersecurity practice which has been around for a while, but it wasn’t until recent times that it started to be increasingly used in marketing and business.

Website categorization is, in essence, the act of putting websites related by their content and function into similar categories. With that in mind, sites like Amazon and Ebay are grouped as Ecommerce sites; CNN, BBC and the likes are classified as news sites; Twitter and Facebook are tagged as social media sites, while Reddit and Quora are Forums (Message Boards) and so on.

However, what some people might not realize is that website categorization is a totally different ball game from Search Engine Optimization and Alexa rankings. Each is different and should be approached in that light - and not be confused.

How to Check Domain Name Availability and Safety

How to Check Domain Name Availability and Safety

One of the most important moments of building your online presence is creating the name of your domain. In the digital sphere, the domain is your address and your identity. Before you settle for a domain, however, you have to jump through a few hoops.

You may think of a perfect name only to discover that it’s already taken or too similar to another brand’s domain. You may find that the perfect domain name is available but you cannot afford it. So how do you find the middle ground between originality, availability and affordability? More importantly, how do you avoid winding up with a domain name you may regret? With a little bit of brainstorming and research. We’ll show you how.

Posted on April 14, 2020

What are the benefits of web filtering for businesses?

Content filtering is the practice of restricting access to a broad category of content or specific websites based on their purpose. There are many reasons why companies use content filtering - from boosting cybersecurity to dealing with workplace productivity.

One of the most important prerequisites to efficient content filtering is being able to properly classify domains and websites that are malicious or inappropriate. This is not an easy task, so you have to be rigorous when deciding which tool to use for content filtering.

In this article, we’ll talk about all the benefits of content filtering and the multifaceted tools you need for this.

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Posted on April 3, 2020

How to Check & Improve the Reputation of Your Domain

It has never been easier to build a website and online business. You can create a site from scratch and start promoting and selling your product in a matter of hours. Amazing as this is, such convenience also has a dark side. Cyber-criminals can do that just as easily. They can infect your website with malware or mimic its appearance to lure your unsuspecting customers. Running a website became a technically challenging matter: web server software, content management systems and other digital tools all have their vulnerabilities. There are malicious requests impinging at every website in every minute looking for the possibility of taking control over it. One successful attack could destroy your business completely.

However, search engines and email providers are keeping up, constantly updating the algorithms that assess all the participants in the digital sphere. When we’re talking about this assessment, we’re talking about domain reputation.

When it comes to domain reputation, there is good news and bad news. Let’s start with the bad: your website is also being assessed. And just because you are not a cybercriminal, it doesn’t mean that your website cannot receive a bad reputation score: you may easily run into some trouble e.g. because of some innocent misconfiguration or a security hole accidentally left open. Now, the good news. It is possible to measure and improve the reputation of your domain.

All it takes is some knowledge, solid API tools like Domain Reputation and Website Categorization, and a little bit of patience. So, let’s begin!

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Posted on March 11, 2020

What is email verification and why is it important?

Email verification is the process of confirming that the email address is valid and deliverable. This is important for plenty of business activities: email marketing, cold outreach and professional correspondence. If you want to achieve your business goals, you have to make sure your messages are reaching their recipients.

There are dozens of ways to check whether the email addresses on your list are valid. The simplicity of these methods and degrees of their reliability vary greatly.

We will explain each of them in greater detail and yes - we will show you the simplest, most reliable solution for email verification. Before that, we’ll discuss the basics of good email practices, both in business correspondence and email marketing.

Let’s go!

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Posted on February 27, 2020

Why Your Business Needs Website Categorization Right Now

Website categorization is a term that may not seem too glamorous or super powerful at first glance. Classifying websites based on content and objective doesn’t strike fear or awe, yet if you’re a marketer or business owner, we dare you to stick around and learn more about this interesting method of scanning your online surroundings. We guarantee that, by the end of this story, you’ll change your mind about website categorization.

It is one of the most versatile and powerful tools you can acquire on your journey towards business success. Website categorization allows you to protect your website, company, and brand, find your target audience, keep tabs on your marketing strategy, and much, much more.

Ready to give it a chance? Let’s go!

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Posted on February 9, 2020

4 Disadvantages of Bad Publicity (and How to Deal with Them)

“There is no such thing as bad publicity.” We’ve all heard this common PR adage. While bad publicity may work wonders for pop stars, for business owners it is a serious liability. The disadvantages of bad publicity are numerous and include plummets in sales, decreased customer retention, difficulties in talent acquisition, as well as a bad brand image.

Thanks to the rise of social media, bad publicity is much easier to produce and make go viral. It no longer comes only from mass media - any bad review of your product or service could be considered bad publicity. Here’s how unchecked bad buzz can harm your business and a few tips on how to deal with it.

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Posted on February 3, 2020

5 Ways to Maintain Brand Consistency

Brand consistency is a practice of presenting brand messages in a way that is fully synchronized with your brand’s strategy, mission, and values.

Maintaining brand consistency is easier said than done, especially in the digital environment. So how do you make sure that your brand is presented in the best possible light, consistent with your identity and goals?

Read this guide to find out.

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Posted on December 26, 2019

How to Block Inappropriate Websites in a Workplace

Accessing explicit or illegal content from the office network can be a serious liability for your company. Blocking inappropriate websites at a workplace protects your network from malware, legal issues, and low employee productivity.

Monitoring workplace Internet activity manually could be a time-consuming task. Fortunately, the blocking of inappropriate websites can be automated. We’ll show you how to block inappropriate websites by using five tricks with varying degrees of reliability.

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Posted on December 19, 2019

How to Improve Your Website's SEO Using Cyber Intelligence

If you’re a newcomer, by now you’re probably well-acquainted with the fact that a great website or product means nothing if nobody’s going to see it. If you want to get in front of your prospective customers, you have to know two things: who they are and how to find them.

There are two ways to reach your audience via search engines: organically, through a wise SEO strategy, and using paid ads.

While paying for the ads may be the easiest way, it is not a sustainable long-term solution. That is why improving your website’s SEO content is the best way to grow your online presence and business.

In this article, we’ll talk about two core strategies and unique cyber intelligence API tools you can use to boost your SEO. As the world of digital marketing is changing due to new privacy regulations, the way websites gather data on its users has to evolve. Cyber intelligence is a revolutionary way to adjust to these changes and get ahead of your competitors. Want to find out more? Keep on reading!

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Posted on December 10, 2019

What is Contextual Targeting?

Targeting is the core of digital marketing wisdom. Instead of shouting into the void in hope of hearing someone respond, you are directing your message to very specific groups, the ones that are most likely to answer. Here’s the Catch 22 of digital marketing - how do you know which groups those are and where to find them? Read on to find out!

Since tracking potential customer’s behavior is becoming increasingly difficult due to privacy regulations, marketers have to be innovative in their approach to gathering valuable data. Welcome to contextual targeting – being at the right place at the right time, without the hassle of cookies and tracking. Leave it to the others!

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Posted on November 28, 2019

5 Benefits of Web Filtering for Businesses

Web filtering is the practice of limiting access to certain websites based on their content. Businesses use web filtering to increase workplace productivity and protect their network security.

Larger companies are more likely to monitor their employees’ internet activity. Around 96% of large businesses block access to at least one website. Yet the practice of web filtering has become popular among smaller companies too. Up to 92% of mid-size and small businesses supervise their employees' web access.

Still wondering whether you should start filtering web content? The benefits of web filtering for businesses are plenty. However, using unsophisticated filtering services can diminish these positive effects.

In this article, we will focus on helping your business get the most out of web filtering.

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Updated on February 10, 2021

How to verify website authenticity?

The Internet is an ever-growing ocean of knowledge, opportunities, and conveniences. At the same time, immense swaths of that ocean are filled with fake websites from all registered domains, scams, and increasingly efficient and sophisticated ways to steal the 21st century’s greatest treasure - personal information.

In this guide, we will show you 10 tricks that can help you verify website authenticity. Admittedly, the simple tricks cannot ensure 100% safe browsing experience. This is why this article also included sophisticated verification measures used by the most reputable cybersecurity tools designed for in-depth, sophisticated analysis of fraudulent websites.

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Posted on November 8, 2019

Want to Find & Contact Websites Based On Specific Categories & Location?

Sometime back we introduced 2 product solutions to help provide clearly defined website Intel in the form of Website Categorization API & Website Contacts API. Both the APIs combine the application of machine learning with the versatility of rules defined by experts and deploy artificial intelligence to obtain precise results. This enables our users to conduct their research from a single source instead of manually examining multiple sources.

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Posted on November 5, 2019

Malware Detection and Prevention Using Website Categorization API!

Cybercrime has taken on the mantle of being the biggest security threat to global information systems of the 21st century. With an increasing number of utilities, services and businesses connecting themselves to online platforms, the number of systems that are potentially under threat of becoming cybercrime targets is increasing by the day. Recent spates of cyber attacks such as the WannaCry and NotPetya have shown how easily important business processes and public utility systems can fall prey to such nefarious acts of digital felony. According to the latest estimates by thebestvpn.com, ransomware alone is slated to cost businesses to the tune of $11.5 billion in 2019. Furthermore, the costs of damage caused by cybercrime cannot be measured in terms of money alone. Cybercrime has far reaching consequences that go beyond mere monetary considerations. The loss of private data, breach of personal and privileged information as well as leak of sensitive records may snowball into global security risks. As a result, it becomes a matter of prime importance that such heinous attacks are nipped in the bud.

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Posted on November 5, 2019

Using Website Contacts and Categorization Tools for More Effective Digital Rights Management

Digital rights management (DRM) is a systematic approach to copyright protection for all kinds of digital media. It prevents unauthorized redistribution of digital media and stops consumers from copying the content they purchase.

DRM products were developed in response to a rapid rise in online piracy of commercially marketed materials aided by the widespread use of peer-to-peer (P2P) file exchange applications, more widely known as torrent clients.

DRM is typically implemented by embedding code in materials to prevent users from copying them. At times, it limits the amount of time when content can be accessed or the number of devices the media can be consumed on. Despite its widespread use, however, online piracy still runs rampant.

So, what can digital media producers do to protect their intellectual property from online pirates? Would limiting access to their distribution platforms help? How do they make sure that they’re not keeping legitimate consumers out along with the digital pirates? These are just some of the questions that this post answers.

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Posted on October 28, 2019

How DNS Filtering and Website Categorization Lists Can Empower In-House Cybersecurity Teams

The IT security climate these days is pretty unpredictable. A study by the University of Maryland states that a security incident occurs every 39 seconds. Companies around the world are, in fact, increasingly suffering from Web-based attacks, not to mention the fact that the average cost of a data breach has skyrocketed.

The good news is that there is a wide range of measures that in-house cybersecurity professionals can employ against threats. One effective solution is Domain Name System (DNS) filtering.

Depending on how it is implemented, DNS filtering can provide advanced network setting controls to enhance online safety. It can protect organizations from threats like botnet, phishing, and other malware-instigated attacks. The great thing about it is that a website categorization database can supplement it. Such a database is thus an excellent resource for managed security service providers (MSSPs) and the like.

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Posted on October 24, 2019

Web Page Categorization: How Next-Generation Technologies Can Benefit MSSPs

The demand for managed security services has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past years. The reason for this trend is that organizations of all sizes need to monitor their IT systems around the clock and manage incidents and breaches in real time. Yet, they may not have the means necessary to do that on their own as it requires significant investment in infrastructure and human resources.

Adding to that, traditional security measures have a hard time catching up with today’s more advanced threats. The fast-paced and increasingly connected environments require next-generation technologies and techniques, which enable MSSPs to protect their clients’ complex environments.

In this post, we’ll discuss what these next-generation capabilities are, why they are essential, and how web page categorization can improve them.

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Updated on February 12, 2021

Check a Website’s Reputation with Website Categorization API and Other Tools

In an era riddled with highly skilled threat actors and sophisticated attack methods, determining whether you can safely access a website or not is critical. After all, the only certain way of preventing a breach is to keep well away from every potential threat source online, including anywhere inappropriate you may land on the Web.

With that purpose in mind, this long-form article presents four case studies on how Website Categorization API, in conjunction with other domain and IP data feeds and APIs, can help organizations avoid the pitfalls that come with visiting harmful web pages.

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Posted on October 11, 2019

How a Website Categorization Database Can Contribute to Fraud Monitoring

Fraud detection and prevention solutions are on the rise, and so are expectations from vendors. Many enterprises users are looking for providers that can offer holistic products and augmented capabilities. Let’s dive into that point and talk about how a Website Categorization Database can prove useful as a means for data enrichment.

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Posted on July 4, 2019

Know What’s Really Behind A Website With Website Categorization API!

Whois API, LLC is constantly on a quest to provide accurate & reliable information about domain activities on the web. Our solid foundation, constant innovations & unparalleled databases of Domain, Whois, DNS, IP, OSINT and Threat Intelligence helps professionals from across industries to get the Intel they need. But with over a billion websites, the internet is already quite massive and is constantly growing. With the plethora of websites & their various data-sets, analyzing them can be cumbersome & time-consuming especially in cases of filtering online traffic or finding potentially dangerous websites. In such cases sometimes just knowing ‘what the website is about?’ or ‘the website category’ can help you decide your further course of action.

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