About & methodology

How ExpiredWebsites audits expired domains

Expired domains can carry real value: existing visitors, links from respected sites and years of history. They can also carry penalties, spam and legal risk. ExpiredWebsites puts the evidence for both on one page per domain, so you can decide before you bid.

Where every number comes from

Every figure is collected from free, public tools. Each report links back to the source so you can check it yourself.

Backlinks

Ahrefs Backlink Checker (free)

Domain Rating, referring domains, total backlinks and the strongest links Ahrefs shows for free (its top 100).

Spam & blacklists

Spamhaus, SURBL, URIBL, Quad9 and Cloudflare security DNS

Whether the domain is listed on spam, phishing and malware blocklists, plus what its own DNS records show. No spam score is shown, because no free source exists for one.

Wayback history

Internet Archive Wayback Machine

How long the site has been archived, captures by year, screenshots and any recorded 301/302/307 redirects.

Tech stack

Wayback Machine (latest working capture)

Technologies found in the archived page source and response headers. Indicative, because the archive does not run scripts.

Relaunch notes

Wayback Machine

How the old site described itself, its archived page structure and the old pages worth redirecting.

Buyer checks

RDAP registry data, Wikipedia, Tranco, crt.sh

Registrar, registration and expiry dates, registry status, Wikipedia links, Tranco rank, SSL certificate history and total cost to own.

Auction

GoDaddy Auctions public auction feed

Current bid, number of bids, end time and GoDaddy’s own valuation. The feed is refreshed about once a day, so a bid can be a few hours old: each report shows when it was read, and the Bid button opens the live listing. Listings move to “Ended” automatically when the timer runs out.

How to read a report

• Start with the pre-bid checklist on each overview. It flags the problems that most often make an expired domain worthless: spam, blocklist listings and a risky registry status.
• A permanent redirect (301/308) to another domain in the Wayback history usually means the old site’s link value was moved away.
• Third-party metrics disagree with each other and with reality. Treat them as signals to investigate, not as facts.
• Sections with no data are hidden rather than guessed.

Limits and disclaimer

Data is collected at a point in time and can change after a report is published. ExpiredWebsites is not affiliated with Ahrefs, GoDaddy, DropCatch, the Internet Archive or any registrar. Nothing here is financial, legal or trademark advice. Always verify before you bid.

Contact

Spotted a mistake, or want a domain removed? Email support@expiredwebsites.online.