That's the question that Nominum, a provider of DNS software for carriers, is asking with Tuesday's announcement of software that enables this once-controversial capability.

Web redirection occurs when a user types a nonexistent Web address into a browser. Instead of receiving a "Page Not Found" error message, the user is redirected to a Web page, such as an advertisement-sponsored search page.

In 2003, VeriSign added a Web redirect service to the .com and .net domains that it operates, and the reaction from the Internet engineering and user communities was overwhelmingly negative.

Weeks later, VeriSign was forced to , which offered users the opportunity to buy unassigned Web addresses that were typed into the browser. Criticism of SiteFinder focused on the fact that VeriSign had implemented it in the .com and .net zones.

Nominum is taking a different approach to Web redirection with its new Vantio NXR software. Nominum's software allows its carrier customers to provide Web redirection services to their customers when they type in a nonexistent Web site. Nominum provides the underlying technology for Web redirection, but not the Web-redirection service.

Nominum asserts that redirection of Web errors is useful to carriers if it is done correctly, by allowing them to provide branded search pages to their customers.

Nominum estimates that 15% to 30% of all DNS traffic is for nonexistent domains.