---
title: "Web (DNS) Filtering and Content Categories"
slug: "web-filtering-and-content-categories"
updated: 2025-02-25T03:54:24Z
published: 2025-02-25T03:54:24Z
canonical: "docs.ssw.splashtop.com/web-filtering-and-content-categories"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ssw.splashtop.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Web (DNS) Filtering and Content Categories

This article defines the **Content Categories** under **DNS Condition** in the **Access Policy**. Selecting content by category blocks large lists of undesirable domains at once, making it easy to keep your environment safe from broad threats.

By reviewing individual categories, you can gain a deeper understanding of the content included in each. These categories are also organized into six groupings to assist in policy setting and reference.

You can flexibly meet your threat protection needs by setting **content categories** whitelists or blacklists through **DNS filtering** in your A**ccess policy**: On Splashtop Secure Workspace website from the **Access** tab, select **Policies** → **Add policy → Add Access Policy** Here, you can create whitelist or blacklist rules by adjusting the default action and specifying whether the action should be "Allow" or "Deny" when certain conditions are met.

After the action is defined, then choose **Add Control → DNS filtering**. Select **use in line condition**(you can also choose predefined conditions). Then select **Add condition → Content Categories**.

![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/efce33ac-4fef-4586-80ea-16e488013376/Images/Documentation/image%2842%29.png)

After setting up the policy, you can verify if specific domains are correctly blocked by using the Simulation feature. Go to the **Access** -> **Simulation** -> **Add Simulation**. After setting the simulation name and choosing the group, select the access type as **Access the Network (DNS)**. Then, enter the domain you want to verify. The simulation result will show the result and classification of the domain.

![image1.png](https://cdn.document360.io/efce33ac-4fef-4586-80ea-16e488013376/Images/Documentation/image1.png)

### Categories, Descriptions, and Examples

| **Cat ID** | **Category Name** | **Description** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Real Estate | Information on renting, buying, or selling real estate or properties. Tips on buying or selling a home. Real estate agents, rental or relocation services, and property improvement. [https://prudentialproperties.com](https://prudentialproperties.com/) [https://realtor.com](https://realtor.com/). |
| 2 | Computer and Internet Security | Computer/Internet security, security discussion groups. [https://siteadvisor.com](https://siteadvisor.com/) [https://owasp.org](https://owasp.org/). |
| 3 | Financial Services | Banking services and other types of financial information, such as loans, accountancy, actuaries, banks, mortgages, and general insurance companies. Does not include sites that offer market information, brokerage, or trading services. [https://fidelity.com](https://fidelity.com/) [https://paypal.com](https://paypal.com/). |
| 4 | Business and Economy | Business firms, corporate websites, business information, economics, marketing, management, and entrepreneurship. [https://samsung.com](https://samsung.com/) [https://ups.com](https://ups.com/). |
| 5 | Computer and internet info | General computer and Internet sites, technical information. SaaS sites and other URLs that deliver internet services. [https://pcmag.com](https://pcmag.com/) [https://amazonaws.com](https://amazonaws.com/) |
| 6 | Auctions | Sites that support the offering and purchasing of goods between individuals as their main purpose. Does not include classified advertisements. [https://ebay.com](https://ebay.com/) [https://quibids.com](https://quibids.com/) |
| 7 | Shopping | Department stores, retail stores, company catalogs and other sites that allow online consumer or business shopping and the purchase of goods and services. [https://amazon.com](https://amazon.com/) [https://groupon.com](https://groupon.com/) |
| 8 | Cult and occult | Methods, means of instruction, or other resources to interpret, affect or influence real events through the use of astrology, spells, curses, magic powers, satanic or supernatural beings. Includes horoscope sites. [https://horoscopes.com](https://horoscopes.com/) [https://numerologist.com](https://numerologist.com/) |
| 9 | Travel | Airlines and flight booking agencies. Travel planning, reservations, vehicle rentals, descriptions of travel destinations, or promotions for hotels or casinos. Car rentals. [https://cheapflights.com](https://cheapflights.com/) [https://expedia.com](https://expedia.com/) |
| 10 | Abused drugs | Discussion or remedies for illegal, illicit, or abused drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or other street drugs. Information on “legal highs”: glue sniffing, misuse of prescription drugs or abuse of other legal substances. [https://shroomery.org](https://shroomery.org/) [https://passyourdrugtest.com](https://passyourdrugtest.com/) |
| 11 | Adult and pornography | Sexually explicit material for the purpose of arousing a sexual or prurient interest. Adult products including sex toys, magazines, and videos. Online groups, including newsgroups and forums that are sexually explicit in nature. Erotic stories and textual descriptions of sexual acts. Adult services including videoconferencing, escort services, and strip clubs. Sexually explicit art. [https://playboy.com](https://playboy.com/) [https://xxx.com](https://xxx.com/) |
| 12 | Home and garden | Home issues and products, including maintenance, home safety, decor, cooking, gardening, home electronics, design, etc. [https://homedepot.com](https://homedepot.com/) [https://waysidegardens.com](https://waysidegardens.com/) |
| 13 | Military | Information on military branches, armed services, and military history. [https://defense.gov](https://defense.gov/) [https://goarmy.com](https://goarmy.com/) |
| 14 | Social networking | Sites that have user communities where users interact, post messages, pictures, and otherwise communicate. These sites were formerly part of Personal Sites and Blogs but have been removed to this new category to provide differentiation and more granular policy. [https://facebook.com](https://facebook.com/) [https://twitter.com](https://twitter.com/) |
| 15 | Dead sites | Sites that do not respond to HTTP queries. Policy engines should usually treat these as “Uncategorized” sites. [https://katsunorikondo.wixsite.com](https://katsunorikondo.wixsite.com/) [https://a.uc129.com](https://a.uc129.com/) |
| 16 | Individual stock advice and tools | Promotion and facilitation of securities trading and management of investment assets. Also includes information on financial investment strategies, quotes, and news. [https://stockstar.com](https://stockstar.com/) [https://morningstar.com](https://morningstar.com/) |
| 17 | Training and tools | Distance education and trade schools, online courses, vocational training, software training, skills training, online productivity tools. [https://udemy.com](https://udemy.com/) [https://calculatorsoup.com](https://calculatorsoup.com/) |
| 18 | Dating | Dating websites focused on establishing personal relationships. [https://eharmony.com](https://eharmony.com/) [https://match.com](https://match.com/) |
| 19 | Sex education | Information on reproduction, sexual development, safe sex practices, sexually transmitted diseases, sexuality, birth control, sexual development, tips for better sex as well as products used for sexual enhancement, and contraceptives. [https://sexetc.org](https://sexetc.org/) [https://sti.guidelines.org.au](https://sti.guidelines.org.au/) |
| 20 | Religion | Conventional or unconventional religious or quasi-religious subjects, as well as churches, synagogues, or other houses of worship. [https://islamonline.net](https://islamonline.net/) [https://catholic.org](https://catholic.org/) |
| 21 | Entertainment and arts | Motion pictures, videos, television, music and programming guides, books, comics, movie theatres, galleries, artists, or reviews on entertainment. Performing arts (theatre, vaudeville, opera, symphonies, etc.). Museums, galleries, artist sites (sculpture, photography, etc.). [https://eonline.com](https://eonline.com/) [https://moma.org](https://moma.org/) |
| 22 | Personal sites and blogs | Personal websites posted by individuals or groups, as well as blogs. [https://blogger.com](https://blogger.com/) [https://wordpress.org](https://wordpress.org/) |
| 23 | Legal | Legal websites, law firms, discussions, and analysis of legal issues. [https://eaglesolicitors.com](https://eaglesolicitors.com/) [https://troutman.com](https://troutman.com/) |
| 24 | Local information | City guides and tourist information, including restaurants, area/regional information, and local points of interest. [https://ianvisits.co.uk](https://ianvisits.co.uk/) [https://downtownlittlerock.com](https://downtownlittlerock.com/) |
| 25 | Streaming media | Sales, delivery, or streaming of audio or video content, including sites that provide downloads for such viewers. [https://youtube.com](https://youtube.com/) [https://netflix.com](https://netflix.com/) |
| 26 | Job search | Assistance in finding employment, and tools for locating prospective employers, or employers looking for employees. [https://monster.com](https://monster.com/) [https://glassdoor.com](https://glassdoor.com/) |
| 27 | Gambling | Gambling or lottery websites that invite the use of real or virtual money. Information or advice for placing wagers, participating in lotteries, gambling, or running numbers. Virtual casinos and offshore gambling ventures. Sports picks and betting pools. Virtual sports and fantasy leagues that offer large rewards or request significant wagers. Hotel and Resort sites that do not enable gambling on the site are categorized in Travel or Local Information. [https://lottery.com](https://lottery.com/) [https://powerball.com](https://powerball.com/) |
| 28 | Translation | URL and language translation sites that allow users to see URL pages in other languages. These sites can also allow users to circumvent filtering as the target page’s content is presented within the context of the translator’s URL. These sites were formerly part of Proxy Avoidance and Anonymizers but have been removed to this new category to provide differentiation and more granular policy. [https://translate.google.com](https://translate.google.com/) [https://bing.com/translator](https://bing.com/translator) |
| 29 | Reference and research | Personal, professional, or educational reference material, including online dictionaries, maps, census, almanacs, library catalogues, genealogy, and scientific information. [https://reference.com](https://reference.com/) [https://wikipedia.org](https://wikipedia.org/) |
| 30 | Shareware and freeware | Software, screensavers, icons, wallpapers, utilities, ringtones. Includes downloads that request a donation, and open-source projects. [https://download.com](https://download.com/) [https://sourceforge.net](https://sourceforge.net/) |
| 31 | Peer to peer | Peer to peer clients and access. Includes torrents, music download programs. [https://torrends.to](https://torrends.to/) [https://bitcomet.com](https://bitcomet.com/) |
| 32 | Marijuana | Marijuana use, cultivation, history, culture, legal issues. [https://howtogrowmarijuana.com](https://howtogrowmarijuana.com/) [https://cannaweed.com](https://cannaweed.com/) |
| 33 | Hacking | Illegal or questionable access to or the use of communications equipment/software. Development and distribution of programs that may allow compromise of networks and systems. Avoidance of licensing and fees for computer programs and other systems. [https://hackplayers.com](https://hackplayers.com/) [https://hackforums.net](https://hackforums.net/) |
| 34 | Games | Game playing or downloading, video games, computer games, electronic games, tips, and advice on games or how to obtain cheat codes. Also includes sites dedicated to selling board games as well as journals and magazines dedicated to game playing. Includes sites that support or host online sweepstakes and giveaways. Includes fantasy sports sites that also host games or game-playing. [https://miniclip.com](https://miniclip.com/) [https://ubi.com](https://ubi.com/) |
| 35 | Philosophy and political advocacy | Politics, philosophy, discussions, promotion of a particular viewpoint or stance in order to further a cause. [https://voteintheknow.org](https://voteintheknow.org/) [https://political.com](https://political.com/) |
| 36 | Weapons | Sales, reviews, or descriptions of weapons such as guns, knives, or martial arts devices, or provide information on their use, accessories, or other modifications. [https://browning.com](https://browning.com/) [https://gunbroker.com](https://gunbroker.com/) |
| 37 | Pay to surf | Sites that pay users in the form of cash or prizes for clicking on or reading specific links, email, or web pages. [https://cashcrate.com](https://cashcrate.com/) [https://inboxdollars.com](https://inboxdollars.com/) |
| 38 | Hunting and fishing | Sport hunting, gun clubs, and fishing. [https://fishingworks.com](https://fishingworks.com/) [https://gohunt.com](https://gohunt.com/) |
| 39 | Society | A variety of topics, groups, and associations relevant to the general populace, broad issues that impact a variety of people, including safety, children, societies, and philanthropic groups. [https://savethechildren.org](https://savethechildren.org/) [https://unicefusa.org](https://unicefusa.org/) |
| 40 | Educational institutions | Pre-school, elementary, secondary, high school, college, university, and vocational school and other educational content and information, including enrollment, tuition, and syllabus. [https://mit.edu](https://mit.edu/) [https://ucsd.edu](https://ucsd.edu/) |
| 41 | Online greeting cards | Online greeting card sites. [https://123greetings.com](https://123greetings.com/) [https://greeting-cards.com](https://greeting-cards.com/) |
| 42 | Sports | Team or conference websites, international, national, college, professional scores, and schedules; sports-related online magazines or newsletters, fantasy sports, and virtual sports leagues. [https://nba.com](https://nba.com/) [https://espn.com](https://espn.com/) |
| 43 | Swimsuits and intimate apparel | Swimsuits, intimate apparel, or other types of suggestive clothing. [https://victoriassecret.com](https://victoriassecret.com/) [https://lavieenrose.com](https://lavieenrose.com/) |
| 44 | Questionable | Tasteless humor, “get rich quick” sites, and sites that manipulate the browser user experience or client in some unusual, unexpected, or suspicious manner. [https://9gag.com](https://9gag.com/) [https://collegehumor.com](https://collegehumor.com/) |
| 45 | Kids | Sites designed specifically for children and teenagers. [https://mathplayground.com](https://mathplayground.com/) [https://kids.nationalgeographic.com](https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/) |
| 46 | Hate and racism | Sites that contain content and language in support of hate crimes and racism such as Nazi, neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan, etc. [https://americannaziparty.com](https://americannaziparty.com/) [https://kkk.com](https://kkk.com/) |
| 47 | Personal storage | Online storage and posting of files, music, pictures, and other data. [https://dropbox.com](https://dropbox.com/) [https://freefilehosting.net](https://freefilehosting.net/) |
| 48 | Violence | Sites that advocate violence, depictions, and methods, including game/comic violence and suicide. [https://documentingreality.com](https://documentingreality.com/) [https://seegore.com](https://seegore.com/) |
| 49 | Keyloggers and monitoring | Downloads and discussion of software agents that track a user’s keystrokes or monitor their web surfing habits. [https://keylogger.org](https://keylogger.org/) [https://mspy.com](https://mspy.com/) |
| 50 | Search engines | Search interfaces using keywords or phrases. Returned results may include text, websites, images, videos, and files. [https://google.com](https://google.com/) [https://sogou.com](https://sogou.com/) |
| 51 | Internet portals | Websites that aggregate a broader set of Internet content and topics, and which typically serve as the starting point for an end user. [https://yahoo.com](https://yahoo.com/) [https://qq.com](https://qq.com/) |
| 52 | Web advertisements | Advertisements, media, content, and banners. [https://ads.google.com](https://ads.google.com/) [https://criteo.com](https://criteo.com/) |
| 53 | Cheating | Sites that support cheating and contain such materials, including free essays, exam copies, plagiarism, etc. [https://elitetutorslab.com](https://elitetutorslab.com/) [https://echeat.com](https://echeat.com/) |
| 54 | Gross | Vomit and other bodily functions, bloody clothing, etc. [https://ratemyvomit.com](https://ratemyvomit.com/) [https://messytube.com](https://messytube.com/) |
| 55 | Web-based email | Sites offering web-based email and email clients. [https://google.com/mail](https://google.com/mail) [https://mail.aol.com](https://mail.aol.com/) |
| 56 | Malware sites | Malicious content including executables, drive-by infection sites, malicious scripts, viruses, trojans, and code. |
| 57 | Phishing and other frauds | Phishing, pharming, and other sites that pose as a reputable site, usually to harvest personal information from a user. These sites are typically quite short-lived, so examples don’t last long. Please contact us if you need fresh data. |
| 58 | Proxy avoidance and anonymizers | Proxy servers and other methods to gain access to URLs in any way that bypasses URL filtering or monitoring. Web-based translation sites that circumvent filtering. [https://anonymouse.org](https://anonymouse.org/) [https://hideme.in](https://hideme.in/) |
| 59 | Spyware and adware | Spyware or Adware sites that provide or promote information gathering or tracking that is unknown to, or without the explicit consent of, the end user or the organization, also unsolicited advertising popups and programs that may be installed on a user’s computer. |
| 60 | Music | Music sales, distribution, streaming, information on musical groups and performances, lyrics, and the music business. [https://music.amazon.com](https://music.amazon.com/) [https://bandcamp.com](https://bandcamp.com/) |
| 61 | Government | Information on government, government agencies and government services such as taxation, public, and emergency services. Also includes sites that discuss or explain laws of various governmental entities. Includes local, county, state, and national government sites. [https://nasa.gov](https://nasa.gov/) [https://premier-ministre.gouv.fr](https://premier-ministre.gouv.fr/) |
| 62 | Nudity | Nude or seminude depictions of the human body. These depictions are not necessarily sexual in intent or effect but may include sites containing nude paintings or photo galleries of artistic nature. This category also includes nudist or naturist sites that contain pictures of nude individuals. [https://naturistbnb.com](https://naturistbnb.com/) [https://purenudism.com](https://purenudism.com/) |
| 63 | News and media | Current events or contemporary issues of the day. Also includes radio stations and magazines, newspapers online, headline news sites, newswire services, personalized news services, and weather sites. [https://abcnews.go.com](https://abcnews.go.com/) [https://bbc.co.uk](https://bbc.co.uk/) |
| 64 | Illegal | Criminal activity, how not to get caught, copyright and intellectual property violations, etc. [https://newid.com](https://newid.com/) [https://superiorfakedegrees.com](https://superiorfakedegrees.com/) |
| 65 | Content delivery networks | Delivery of content and data for third parties, including ads, media, files, images, and video. [https://cloudfront.net](https://cloudfront.net/) [https://metacdn.com](https://metacdn.com/) |
| 66 | Internet communications | Internet telephony, messaging, VoIP services, and related businesses. [https://skype.com](https://skype.com/) [https://chatib.com](https://chatib.com/) |
| 67 | Botnets | These are URLs, typically IP addresses, which are determined to be part of a Bot network, from which network attacks are launched. Attacks may include SPAM messages, DOS, SQL injections, proxy jacking, and other unsolicited contacts. |
| 68 | Abortion | Abortion topics, either pro-life or pro-choice. [https://abortion.procon.org](https://abortion.procon.org/) [https://www.nafcanada.org](https://www.nafcanada.org/) |
| 69 | Health and medicine | General health, fitness, well-being, including traditional and non-traditional methods and topics. Medical information on ailments, various conditions, dentistry, psychiatry, optometry, and other specialties. Hospitals and doctor offices. Medical insurance. Cosmetic surgery. [https://webmd.com](https://webmd.com/) [https://missionvalleymedical.com](https://missionvalleymedical.com/) |
| 70 | Confirmed SPAM Sources | URLs that have been verified as sources of spam. These sites are known to send unsolicited messages, often in bulk, to a large number of recipients. |
| 71 | SPAM URLs | URLs contained in SPAM. |
| 72 | Unconfirmed SPAM Sources | URLs suspected of being sources of spam but not yet verified. These sites may exhibit behavior typical of spam sources but lack conclusive evidence. |
| 73 | Open HTTP Proxies | Websites providing open HTTP proxy services. These proxies can be used to anonymize internet traffic, bypass content filters, or access restricted content. |
| 74 | Dynamically Generated Content | Websites that generate content dynamically based on user interactions or other real-time data. This includes sites with personalized content, real-time updates, and interactive features. |
| 75 | Parked domains | Parked domains are URLs which host limited content or click-through ads which may generate revenue for the hosting entities but generally do not contain content useful to the end user. Also includes Under Construction, folders, and web server default home pages. [https://ranking.com](https://ranking.com/) [https://whitehouse.info](https://whitehouse.info/) |
| 76 | Alcohol and tobacco | Sites that provide information on, promote, or support the sale of alcoholic beverages or tobacco products and associated paraphernalia. [https://thompsoncigar.com](https://thompsoncigar.com/) [https://wineinsiders.com](https://wineinsiders.com/) |
| 77 | Private IP Addresses |  |
| 78 | Image and video search | Photo and image searches, online photo albums/digital photo exchange, image hosting. [https://images.google.fr](https://images.google.fr/) [https://photobucket.com](https://photobucket.com/) |
| 79 | Fashion and beauty | Fashion or glamour magazines, beauty, clothes, cosmetics, style. [https://hermes.com](https://hermes.com/) [https://vogue.com](https://vogue.com/) |
| 80 | Recreation and hobbies | Various leisure activities, hobbies, and recreational interests. [https://ranking.com](https://ranking.com/) [https://whitehouse.info](https://whitehouse.info/) |
| 81 | Motor vehicles | Information on cars, motorcycles, and other motor vehicles, including reviews, sales, and automotive communities. [https://thompsoncigar.com](https://thompsoncigar.com/) [https://wineinsiders.com](https://wineinsiders.com/) |
| 82 | Web hosting | Websites that provide domain hosting, server hosting, and related services. [https://images.google.fr](https://images.google.fr/) [https://photobucket.com](https://photobucket.com/) |
| 85 | Self-harm | URLs promoting self-harm such as anorexia, bulimia, and other types of self-harm, created for endpoint policy enforcement. [https://lostallhope.com](https://lostallhope.com/) [https://poemsofselfharm.tumblr.com](https://poemsofselfharm.tumblr.com/) |
| 86 | DNS over HTTPS | Known DNS Over HTTPS (DoH) providers and domains. [https://cloudflare-dns.com](https://cloudflare-dns.com/) [https://doh.opendns.com](https://doh.opendns.com/) |
| 87 | Low-THC cannabis products | Sites with content containing low-THC, non-psychoactive products including CBD oils, resin, extracts, herbs, capsules, supplements, foods, drinks, and toiletries/skin care products. [https://alwayspureorganics.com](https://alwayspureorganics.com/) [https://directhemp.com](https://directhemp.com/) |
| 88 | Generative AI | Artificial Intelligence tools and systems that are used to generate new text, images, video, audio, code, or other types of synthetic data. [https://bard.google.com](https://bard.google.com/) [https://chat.openai.com/chat](https://chat.openai.com/chat) |
| 89 | Uncategorized | Sites that do not fit into any specific category or are not yet classified. |

### Splashtop Secure Workspace recommended groupings

| Grouping | Description | Corresponding Categories |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Security** | These sites contain content that may be harmful to your system, networks, and/or users. | - Malware sites (56) - Phishing and other frauds (57) - Proxy avoidance and anonymizers (58) - Spyware and adware (59) - Botnets (67) - SPAM URLs (71) - Keyloggers and monitoring (49) - DNS over HTTPS (86) |
| **Productivity** | These categories can be used to set filtering policies depending on your customers’ desired usage. | - Real estate (1) - Computer and internet security (2) - Business and economy (4) - Computer and internet info (5) - Auctions (6) - Shopping (7) - Travel (9) - Home and garden (12) - Military (13) - Social networking (14) - Individual stock advice and tools (16) - Training and tools (17) - Entertainment and arts (21) - Personal sites and blogs (22) - Local information (24) - Job search (26) - Reference and research (29) - Games (34) - Philosophy and political advocacy (35) - Pay to surf (37) - Hunting and fishing (38) - Society (39) - Educational institutions (40) - Sports (42) - Kids (45) - Search engines (50) - Internet portals (51) - Music (60) - News and media (63) - Fashion and beauty (79) - Recreation and hobbies (80) - Motor vehicles (81) - Generative AI (88) |
| **IT resources** | These sites may contain content that heavily utilizes network bandwidth. | - Streaming media (25) - Shareware and freeware (30) - Peer-to-peer (31) - Online greeting cards (41) - Personal storage/data privacy (47) - Web advertisements (52) - Content delivery networks (65) - Internet communications (66) - Web hosting (82) |
| **Privacy** | Traffic going to and from these sites may contain highly sensitive personal information. | - Financial services (3) - Legal (23) - Web-based email (55) - Government (61) - Health and medicine (69) |
| **Sensitive** | These sites may contain content unsuitable for a work environment or for certain audiences. | - Cult and occult (8) - Abused drugs (10) - Adult and pornography (11) - Self-harm (85) - Low-THC cannabis products (87) - Dating (18) - Sex education (19) - Religion (20) - Gambling (27) - Translation (28) - Marijuana (32) - Hacking (33) - Weapons (36) - Swimsuits and intimate apparel (43) - Questionable (44) - Hate and racism (46) - Violence (48) - Cheating (53) - Gross (54) - Nudity (62) - Illegal (64) - Abortion (68) - Parked domains (75) - Alcohol and tobacco (76) - Image and video search (78) - Dead sites (15) |
| **Misc.** | These categories are used for Webroot internal database operations. | *N/A* |