It is just another DNS server option.
Actually, it is the DNS server of Google, it means that Google provides the DNS and maintenance of this service, which means it is "more reliable" than some another DNS servers due to the fact that is maintained by one of the biggest IT companies of the world.
Also, according to Wikipedia, Google DNS provides some security functions that other DNS haven't:
The service does not use third party DNS management software such as
BIND, instead relying on a custom-built implementation, with limited
IPv6 support, conforming to the DNS standards set forth by the IETF.
It also only partially supports the DNSSEC protocol.
Some popular DNS providers practice a form of DNS hijacking while
processing queries,causing web browsers to
redirect to an advertisement site run by the provider when a
nonexistent domain name is entered, explicitly breaking the DNS
specification. In contrast, Google's service correctly replies with an
NXDOMAIN code in this situation, and as a result, many users are now
using the service for this reason alone
4
Related: http://superuser.com/q/387034/79358
– Diogo – 2012-05-14T13:35:38.8772
Also see http://superuser.com/q/78743/49184 for info on Google's DNS service.
– Daniel Andersson – 2012-05-14T13:44:33.233If you are curious to see which DNS service is fastest for you try namebench http://code.google.com/p/namebench/
– qroberts – 2012-05-14T14:00:05.9631
I like DNS Benchmark....http://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm
– Moab – 2012-05-14T14:54:58.210Who asked you this? (aside: this is why the passive voice is bad :) If it was someone at work, there could be multiple reasons. If it was a technical support agent then they went with 8.8.8.8 because it was quicker and less prone to error, than looking up your ISP's DNS server addresses. – username – 2012-06-09T12:36:17.890