Filtering Category Definitions
Island provides a wide range of general or granular filtering options that you can tailor to individual devices, users, and groups. Below is a table of all the macro categories and sub-categories Island offers:
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Web advertisements
Advertisements, media, content and banners -
Business & Economy
Business firms, corporate websites, business information, economics, marketing, management, and entrepreneurship.Computer & Internet Info
General computer and internet sites, technical information, SaaS sites, and other URLs that deliver internet services.Computer & Internet Security
Computer/internet security, security discussion groups.Fashion & Beauty
Fashion or glamour magazines, beauty, clothes, cosmetics, style.Financial Services
Banking services and other types of financial information including loans, accountancy, actuaries, banks, mortgages, and general insurance companies. Does not include sites that offer market information, brokerage, or trading services.Government
Information on government, government agencies, and government services such as taxation, public, and emergency services; sites that discuss or explain laws of various governmental entities; local, county, state, and national government sites.Individual Stock Advice & Tools
Promotion and facilitation of securities trading and management of investment assets. Also includes information on financial investment strategies, quotes, and news.Job Search
Assistance in finding employment, tools for locating prospective employers, or employers looking for employees.Legal
Legal websites, law firms, discussions, and analysis of legal issues.Military
Information on military branches, armed services, and military history.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.Swimsuits & Intimate apparel
Swimsuits, intimate apparel, or other types of suggestive clothing.Travel
Airlines and flight booking agencies. Travel planning, reservations, vehicle rentals, descriptions of travel destinations, or promotions for hotels or casinos.Web Hosting
Free or paid hosting services for web pages and information concerning their development, publication, and promotion.Auctions
Sites that support the offering and purchasing of goods between individuals as their main purpose. Does not include classified advertisements.Shopping
Department stores, retail stores, company catalogs, and other sites that allow online consumer or business shopping and the purchase of goods and services. -
Hunting & Fishing
Sport hunting, gun clubs, and fishing.Music
Music sales, distribution, streaming, information on musical groups and performances, lyrics, and the music business.Recreation & Hobbies
Information, associations, forums, and publications on recreational pastimes such as collecting, kit airplanes, outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, rock climbing, specific arts, craft, or techniques; animal and pet-related information including breed-specifics, training, shows, and humane societies.Sports
Team or conference websites; international, national, college, or professional scores and schedules; sports-related online magazines or newsletters; fantasy sports and virtual sports leagues.Streaming Media
Kids
Sites designed specifically for children and teenagers.Games
Game playing or downloading, video games, computer games, electronic games, tips, and advice on games or how to obtain cheat codes; sites dedicated to selling board games, as well as journals and magazines dedicated to game playing; sites that support or host online sweepstakes and giveaways; fantasy sports sites that also host games or game-playing. -
Botnets
These are URLs, typically IP addresses, which are determined to be part of a bot network and from which network attacks are launched. Attacks may include SPAM messages, DOS, SQL injections, proxy jacking, and other unsolicited contacts.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.Illegal
Criminal activity, how not to get caught, copyright and intellectual property violations, etc.Keyloggers & Monitoring
Downloads and discussion of software agents that track a user’s keystrokes or monitor their web surfing habits.Malware sites
Malicious content including executables, drive-by infection sites, malicious scripts, viruses, trojans, and code.Phishing & 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 short-lived, so examples don’t last long. Please contact us for new data.SPAM URLs
URLs contained in SPAM.Spyware & 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; unsolicited advertising popups and programs that may be installed on a user’s computer. -
Abortion
Abortion topics, either pro-life or pro-choice.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.Alcohol & Tobacco
Sites that provide information on, promote, or support the sale of alcoholic beverages or tobacco products and associated paraphernalia.Cheating
Sites that support cheating and contain such materials, including free essays, exam copies, plagiarism, etc.Cult & 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.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.Gross
Vomit and other bodily functions, bloody clothing, etc.Hate & Racism
Sites that contain content and language in support of hate crimes and racism including Nazi, neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan, etc.Marijuana
Marijuana use, cultivation, history, culture, legal issues.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.Questionable
Tasteless humor, “get rich quick” sites, and sites that manipulate the browser user experience or client in some unusual, unexpected, or suspicious manner.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.Violence
Sites that advocate violence, its depiction and methods, including game/comic violence and suicide.Weapons
Sales, reviews, or descriptions of weapons such as guns, knives, or martial arts devices; information on their use, accessories, or other modifications.Adult & Pornography
Sexually explicit material for the purpose of arousing a sexual or prurient interest. Adult products including sex toys, CD-ROMs, 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 video conferencing, escort services, and strip clubs. Sexually explicit art. -
Dating
Dating websites focused on establishing personal relationships.Social Networking
Social networking sites with 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.Internet Communications
Internet telephony, messaging, VoIP services and related businesses.Web-based Email
Sites offering web based email and email clients.Online Greeting Cards
Online greeting card sites. -
Educational Institutions
GPre-school, elementary, secondary, high school, college, university, and vocational school and other educational content and information, including enrollment, tuition, and syllabus.Health & Medicine
General health, fitness, and 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.Home & Garden
Home issues and products including maintenance, home safety, decor, cooking, gardening, home electronics, design, etc.Image & Video Search
Photo and image searches, online photo albums/digital photo exchange, image hosting.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.Local Information
City guides and tourist information including restaurants, area/regional information, and local points of interest.Motor Vehicles
Car reviews, vehicle purchasing or sales tips, and parts catalogs; auto trading, photos, discussion of vehicles including motorcycles, boats, cars, trucks and RVs; journals and magazines on vehicle modifications.Personal Sites & Blogs
Personal websites posted by individuals or groups, as well as blogs.Philosophy & Political Advocacy
Politics, philosophy, discussions, promotion of particular viewpoints or stances in order to further a cause.Reference & Research
Personal, professional, or educational reference material, including online dictionaries, maps, census, almanacs, library catalogues, genealogy, and scientific information.Religion
Conventional or unconventional religious or quasi-religious subjects, as well as churches, synagogues, or other houses of worship.Search engines
Search interfaces using keywords or phrases. Returned results may include text, websites, images, videos, and files.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.Training & Tools
Distance education and trade schools, online courses, vocational training, software training, and skills training.News & Media
Current events or contemporary issues of the day; radio stations, magazines, online newspapers, headline news sites, newswire services, personalized news services, and weather sites. -
Content Delivery Network
Delivery of content and data for third parties including ads, media, files, images, and video.Dead Sites
These are dead sites that do not respond to http queries. Policy engines should usually treat these as “Uncategorized” sites.Dynamically Generated Content
Domains that generate content dynamically based on arguments to their URL or other information (like geolocation) on the incoming web request.Parked Domains
URLs which host limited content or click-through ads that may generate revenue for the hosting entities but generally do not contain content useful to the end user; “Under Construction,” folders, and web server default home pages.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.Peer-to-Peer
Peer-to-peer clients and access including torrents and music download programs.Personal Storage
Online storage and posting of files, music, pictures, and other data.Proxy Avoidance & Anonymizers
Proxy servers and other methods of gaining access to URLs in any way that bypasses URL filtering or monitoring; web-based translation sites that circumvent filtering.Shareware & Freeware
Software, screensavers, icons, wallpapers, utilities, ringtones. Includes downloads that request a donation and open source projects.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 moved to this new category for differentiation and more granular policy.