{ "name": "Web Filtering Database — official category reference", "version": "2026-07", "category_count": 59, "homepage": "https://webfilteringdatabase.com/taxonomy.php", "license": "Free to reuse with a link back to webfilteringdatabase.com", "categories": [ { "category": "Adult", "description": "Sites hosting pornography and other sexually explicit material. Nearly every acceptable-use policy blocks this category outright — in schools to protect minors, and in workplaces to reduce legal exposure and keep browsing appropriate.", "example_domains": [ "redtube.com", "xhamster.com", "adultfriendfinder.com", "xvideos.com", "pornhub.com" ] }, { "category": "Advertising/Marketing", "description": "Ad networks, tracking pixels, marketing automation platforms, and promotional landing pages. Administrators often block or rate-limit this traffic to cut bandwidth waste, reduce tracking, and keep pages loading faster on managed networks.", "example_domains": [ "mailchimp.com", "hubspot.com", "adroll.com", "facebook.com", "googleads.com" ] }, { "category": "AI / LLM Tools", "description": "Chatbots, large language model interfaces, AI writing assistants, and machine learning platforms. Organizations increasingly police this category to prevent confidential data from being pasted into external AI services and to enforce approved-tool policies.", "example_domains": [ "huggingface.co", "perplexity.ai", "gemini.google.com", "claude.ai", "chat.openai.com" ] }, { "category": "Alcohol", "description": "Producers, retailers, and review sites centered on beer, wine, and spirits. Commonly restricted on school networks and in jurisdictions with strict alcohol advertising rules, and often age-gated in filtering products.", "example_domains": [ "wine.com", "bevmo.com", "totalwine.com", "drizly.com", "liquor.com" ] }, { "category": "Arts & Entertainment", "description": "Museums, galleries, cinema listings, celebrity coverage, and general entertainment portals. Rarely a security risk; typically allowed but sometimes throttled in strict productivity-focused environments.", "example_domains": [ "metacritic.com", "broadway.com", "pitchfork.com", "imdb.com", "rollingstone.com" ] }, { "category": "Automotive & Transportation", "description": "Car manufacturers, dealerships, parts retailers, fleet services, and transit information. A low-risk category that most policies leave open; useful mainly for analytics and audience segmentation.", "example_domains": [ "motortrend.com", "caranddriver.com", "edmunds.com", "cars.com", "autotrader.com" ] }, { "category": "Blogs/Personal Sites", "description": "Personal homepages, hobby blogs, and self-published writing on platforms or custom domains. Content quality varies widely, so cautious deployments monitor rather than block, since topical content can range from recipes to extremism.", "example_domains": [ "livejournal.com", "medium.com", "tumblr.com", "blogger.com", "wordpress.com" ] }, { "category": "Business", "description": "Corporate websites, B2B service providers, consultancies, and company information pages. Almost universally allowed; the category mostly serves whitelisting, research, and traffic-classification purposes.", "example_domains": [ "inc.com", "harvardbusinessreview.com", "businessinsider.com", "forbes.com", "linkedin.com" ] }, { "category": "CDN / Hosting / Infrastructure", "description": "Content delivery networks, hosting providers, and other backbone infrastructure endpoints. Blocking these breaks large parts of the web, so filters typically allow them while watching for abuse hosted on shared infrastructure.", "example_domains": [ "godaddy.com", "digitalocean.com", "akamai.com", "aws.amazon.com", "cloudflare.com" ] }, { "category": "Cloud Storage / File Hosting", "description": "Consumer and business file-storage services such as sync-and-share drives and upload lockers. A frequent data-exfiltration channel — many corporate policies allow only the sanctioned provider and block the rest.", "example_domains": [ "mega.nz", "box.com", "onedrive.live.com", "drive.google.com", "dropbox.com" ] }, { "category": "Community Sites", "description": "Interest-group hubs, fan communities, and membership portals built around shared activities. Generally benign; monitored in some environments because user-generated content can drift off-policy.", "example_domains": [ "tumblr.com", "linkedin.com", "twitter.com", "facebook.com", "reddit.com" ] }, { "category": "Computers & Technology", "description": "Hardware vendors, software publishers, IT news, and technical documentation. A core allowed category on virtually every network; blocking it would cripple routine IT work.", "example_domains": [ "zdnet.com", "arstechnica.com", "tomshardware.com", "cnet.com", "techcrunch.com" ] }, { "category": "Cryptocurrency", "description": "Exchanges, wallet services, coin news, and blockchain projects. Often restricted on corporate endpoints to deter unauthorized trading and mining, and watched closely because scam sites cluster heavily here.", "example_domains": [ "ethereum.org", "kraken.com", "coinmarketcap.com", "binance.com", "coinbase.com" ] }, { "category": "Dating", "description": "Matchmaking apps and personals services for meeting romantic partners. Routinely blocked on work and school networks for productivity and safeguarding reasons, and a recurring vector for romance-scam traffic.", "example_domains": [ "hinge.co", "okcupid.com", "bumble.com", "match.com", "tinder.com" ] }, { "category": "Developer Tools / Code Hosting", "description": "Source repositories, package registries, CI services, and programming utilities. Essential for engineering teams, though some organizations restrict uploads to prevent proprietary code from leaving the network.", "example_domains": [ "npmjs.com", "stackoverflow.com", "bitbucket.org", "gitlab.com", "github.com" ] }, { "category": "Education/Reference", "description": "Schools, universities, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and academic resources. Whitelisted almost everywhere; filtering products treat it as a trusted category for minors.", "example_domains": [ "edx.org", "coursera.org", "study.com", "wikipedia.org", "khanacademy.org" ] }, { "category": "Email and Messaging", "description": "Webmail providers and browser-based chat services. Corporate policies frequently block personal webmail to close a common data-leakage path while allowing the sanctioned mail platform.", "example_domains": [ "slack.com", "whatsapp.com", "outlook.com", "yahoo.com", "gmail.com" ] }, { "category": "File Sharing/P2P", "description": "Torrent indexes, peer-to-peer portals, and direct-download boards. Heavily restricted because of copyright liability, malware-laced downloads, and the bandwidth these services consume.", "example_domains": [ "nyaa.si", "rarbg.to", "torrentz2.eu", "1337x.to", "thepiratebay.org" ] }, { "category": "Financial Services", "description": "Lenders, insurers, investment platforms, and personal-finance advice sites. Usually allowed but monitored; phishing pages imitate this category more than almost any other.", "example_domains": [ "intuit.com", "paypal.com", "wellsfargo.com", "chase.com", "bankofamerica.com" ] }, { "category": "Food & Drink", "description": "Recipe collections, food blogs, beverage brands, and culinary media. A benign lifestyle category that few policies touch.", "example_domains": [ "seriouseats.com", "bonappetit.com", "epicurious.com", "foodnetwork.com", "allrecipes.com" ] }, { "category": "Forums / Message Boards", "description": "Discussion boards and threaded communities across every topic. Moderation quality varies enormously, so schools and conservative workplaces often block or selectively allow individual boards.", "example_domains": [ "phpbb.com", "discourse.org", "stackexchange.com", "quora.com", "reddit.com" ] }, { "category": "Freeware/Software", "description": "Download portals offering free, shareware, and open-source applications. Treated with suspicion in security stacks because bundled installers and fake download buttons make these sites a classic malware delivery path.", "example_domains": [ "majorgeeks.com", "softpedia.com", "filehippo.com", "download.com", "sourceforge.net" ] }, { "category": "Gambling", "description": "Casinos, sportsbooks, poker rooms, and lottery services operating online. Blocked by default in most workplaces and schools, and subject to strict jurisdiction-specific legal requirements.", "example_domains": [ "williamhill.com", "888casino.com", "draftkings.com", "pokerstars.com", "bet365.com" ] }, { "category": "Gaming", "description": "Game publishers, online play services, esports coverage, and gaming communities. Commonly time-restricted rather than banned outright; bandwidth and productivity are the usual concerns.", "example_domains": [ "pokernight.com", "epicgames.com", "steam.com", "ign.com", "gamespot.com" ] }, { "category": "Government & Legal", "description": "Official government portals, courts, regulators, and legal information services. A trusted, always-allow category in virtually every deployment.", "example_domains": [ "irs.gov", "congress.gov", "nasa.gov", "justice.gov", "usa.gov" ] }, { "category": "Hate/Discrimination", "description": "Sites promoting hostility toward protected groups or organized discrimination. Blocked in essentially all managed environments and flagged for safeguarding review wherever it appears in logs.", "example_domains": [ "hatewatch.org", "kkk.com", "nazi.org", "whitehouse.gov", "stormfront.org" ] }, { "category": "Health & Medicine", "description": "Hospitals, clinics, medical reference works, and health advice portals. Allowed everywhere; some filters apply privacy-sensitive log handling because visits can reveal medical conditions.", "example_domains": [ "who.int", "nih.gov", "healthline.com", "mayoclinic.org", "webmd.com" ] }, { "category": "Home & Garden", "description": "Interior design, DIY guides, gardening advice, and home improvement retail. Low-risk lifestyle content that policies rarely restrict.", "example_domains": [ "homeadvisor.com", "bhg.com", "gardeningknowhow.com", "wayfair.com", "houzz.com" ] }, { "category": "Illegal Drugs", "description": "Sites facilitating or promoting trade in controlled substances and drug paraphernalia. A mandatory block in schools and workplaces, and often a legal requirement for regulated industries.", "example_domains": [ "illegaldrugsupply.com", "drugdealers.com", "buyillegaldrugs.com", "illicitdrugmarket.com", "drugstore.com" ] }, { "category": "Job Search/Careers", "description": "Job boards, recruiter platforms, and career advice services. Some employers quietly block this category on internal networks; schools and public networks leave it open.", "example_domains": [ "glassdoor.com", "careerbuilder.com", "monster.com", "linkedin.com", "indeed.com" ] }, { "category": "Lingerie/Swimsuits/Intimate Apparel", "description": "Retailers of underwear, swimwear, and intimate clothing. Not explicit content, but frequently age-gated or blocked in strict school deployments that err on the side of caution.", "example_domains": [ "fredericks.com", "hottopic.com", "aerie.com", "bareNecessities.com", "victoriassecret.com" ] }, { "category": "Malware / Phishing / Suspicious", "description": "Domains observed distributing malware, hosting phishing kits, or exhibiting attack infrastructure patterns. The single most important block category in any filtering product — always deny, alert, and investigate.", "example_domains": [ "abuse.ch", "malwarebytes.com", "phishtank.org", "urlscan.io", "virustotal.com" ] }, { "category": "Marketplaces / Classifieds / Auctions", "description": "Peer-to-peer selling platforms, classified ads, and auction sites. Usually allowed; fraud teams watch the category because counterfeit and scam listings concentrate here.", "example_domains": [ "poshmark.com", "mercari.com", "offerup.com", "craigslist.org", "ebay.com" ] }, { "category": "Military", "description": "Armed forces portals, defense ministries, and military news or veteran services. A niche informational category that filtering policies almost never restrict.", "example_domains": [ "airforce.com", "navy.mil", "army.mil", "defense.gov", "military.com" ] }, { "category": "News/Media", "description": "Newspapers, broadcasters, magazines, and digital news outlets. Kept open in nearly all environments; some products offer optional filtering of specific outlets for compliance reasons.", "example_domains": [ "reuters.com", "foxnews.com", "nytimes.com", "bbc.com", "cnn.com" ] }, { "category": "Online Banking", "description": "Bank login portals and account-management interfaces. Always allowed but intensively protected — filters pair this category with anti-phishing checks because fake banking pages are ubiquitous.", "example_domains": [ "capitalone.com", "citibank.com", "wellsfargo.com", "chase.com", "bankofamerica.com" ] }, { "category": "Parked / For-Sale Domains", "description": "Registered but unused domains showing registrar placeholders or sale listings. Blocked or de-prioritized by default: they carry no legitimate content and frequently rotate into ad fraud or redirect abuse.", "example_domains": [ "bodis.com", "hugedomains.com", "dan.com", "afternic.com", "sedo.com" ] }, { "category": "Pets & Animals", "description": "Veterinary services, pet supply shops, breed guides, and animal welfare organizations. Harmless content that no mainstream policy restricts.", "example_domains": [ "akc.org", "animalplanet.com", "thebark.com", "petfinder.com", "pets.com" ] }, { "category": "Podcasts", "description": "Podcast directories, hosting platforms, and episode streaming pages. Generally allowed; large audio streams occasionally get bandwidth-shaped on constrained networks.", "example_domains": [ "anchor.fm", "overcast.fm", "pocketcasts.com", "open.spotify.com", "podcasts.apple.com" ] }, { "category": "Political", "description": "Party sites, campaign platforms, advocacy groups, and political commentary. Sensitive in some deployments — government and school filters sometimes restrict it to remain viewpoint-neutral.", "example_domains": [ "bbc.com", "thehill.com", "foxnews.com", "cnn.com", "politico.com" ] }, { "category": "Real Estate", "description": "Property listings, agents, and rental marketplaces. Routine commercial content with no meaningful policy risk.", "example_domains": [ "loopnet.com", "redfin.com", "trulia.com", "zillow.com", "realtor.com" ] }, { "category": "Religion & Spirituality", "description": "Churches, faith communities, scripture resources, and spiritual practice sites. Left open in nearly all policies; occasionally filtered in specific institutional contexts.", "example_domains": [ "patheos.com", "religionnews.com", "huffpost.com/religion", "beliefnet.com", "biblegateway.com" ] }, { "category": "Remote Access Tools", "description": "Remote desktop services, screen-sharing utilities, and remote administration platforms. Tightly controlled in enterprises: unauthorized remote access software is a leading ransomware entry point.", "example_domains": [ "logmein.com", "remotedesktop.google.com", "splashtop.com", "anydesk.com", "teamviewer.com" ] }, { "category": "Restaurants & Dining", "description": "Restaurant sites, reservation platforms, delivery services, and dining reviews. Benign everyday content, universally allowed.", "example_domains": [ "openTable.com", "foodnetwork.com", "ubereats.com", "grubhub.com", "yelp.com" ] }, { "category": "Science", "description": "Research institutions, journals, and science communication sites. A trusted educational category kept open everywhere.", "example_domains": [ "newscientist.com", "pnas.org", "scientificamerican.com", "sciencemag.org", "nature.com" ] }, { "category": "Search Engines & Platforms", "description": "General web search engines and large platform portals. Foundational to web use — filters allow them and instead enforce safe-search settings at the query level.", "example_domains": [ "baidu.com", "duckduckgo.com", "yahoo.com", "bing.com", "google.com" ] }, { "category": "Shopping", "description": "Online retailers and e-commerce storefronts across all product types. Allowed almost everywhere; some workplaces time-restrict it during business hours.", "example_domains": [ "etsy.com", "target.com", "walmart.com", "ebay.com", "amazon.com" ] }, { "category": "Social Networking", "description": "Social platforms for posting, messaging, and following other users. The most commonly time-managed category in workplace policies, and a safeguarding focus in schools.", "example_domains": [ "snapchat.com", "linkedin.com", "instagram.com", "twitter.com", "facebook.com" ] }, { "category": "Sports & Recreation", "description": "Team sites, league coverage, scores, and recreational activity resources. Low-risk content; occasionally bandwidth-shaped during major live events.", "example_domains": [ "si.com", "nbcsports.com", "sports.yahoo.com", "bleacherreport.com", "espn.com" ] }, { "category": "Streaming Media", "description": "Video and music streaming services delivering on-demand or live content. The dominant bandwidth consumer on most networks — frequently shaped or scheduled rather than blocked.", "example_domains": [ "hulu.com", "vimeo.com", "twitch.tv", "netflix.com", "youtube.com" ] }, { "category": "Tobacco", "description": "Cigarette, cigar, vaping, and smokeless tobacco vendors and promotion. Blocked for minors everywhere and restricted in many workplaces; advertising rules make it a compliance category.", "example_domains": [ "vaping.com", "smokeshop.com", "cigarettes.com", "nicotine.com", "tobacco.com" ] }, { "category": "Travel", "description": "Airlines, hotels, booking engines, and destination guides. Ordinary commercial content that policies leave open.", "example_domains": [ "travelocity.com", "airbnb.com", "tripadvisor.com", "booking.com", "expedia.com" ] }, { "category": "URL Shorteners", "description": "Redirection services that wrap destinations behind short links. Treated cautiously because the true destination is hidden — many security stacks resolve and re-classify the target before allowing the click.", "example_domains": [ "is.gd", "ow.ly", "t.co", "tinyurl.com", "bit.ly" ] }, { "category": "Violence", "description": "Sites glorifying or graphically depicting violence and physical harm. Blocked in schools and most workplaces, and flagged for review under safeguarding programs.", "example_domains": [ "gorehub.com", "crimescene.com", "fightclub.com", "extremeviolence.com", "violentvideos.com" ] }, { "category": "VPN / Proxy / Anonymizers", "description": "VPN vendors, web proxies, and anonymization services. Blocked on managed networks because they exist precisely to tunnel around the filter — allowing them nullifies every other policy rule.", "example_domains": [ "hidemyass.com", "torproject.org", "protonvpn.com", "expressvpn.com", "nordvpn.com" ] }, { "category": "Weapons", "description": "Firearms dealers, ammunition suppliers, and weapon-focused content. Blocked for minors and in most corporate environments; subject to regional legal restrictions.", "example_domains": [ "cabelas.com", "palmettostatearmory.com", "cheaperthandirt.com", "armslist.com", "gunbroker.com" ] }, { "category": "Web-based Applications", "description": "Browser-delivered productivity tools, converters, editors, and SaaS utilities. Allowed by default, with data-loss-prevention teams watching uploads to unsanctioned tools.", "example_domains": [ "asana.com", "zoom.us", "slack.com", "dropbox.com", "google.com" ] }, { "category": "Webinars/E-learning", "description": "Online course platforms, training portals, and live webinar services. A trusted category that policies keep open to support education and professional development.", "example_domains": [ "webinar.net", "zoom.us", "udemy.com", "edx.org", "coursera.org" ] }, { "category": "Other", "description": "Catch-all category for domains whose content does not fit any of the 58 topical web filtering categories, including sites with insufficient content to classify reliably.", "example_domains": [] } ] }