When Scamdoc analyzes a website, it considers several more or less technical elements including the age of the domain name. This information is important because, despite its apparent simplicity, it can tell a lot about the reliability of a website. Nonetheless, as we will see, there are a few limitations to this approach…
What is a domain name?
A domain name is the internet address of a website, like “www.google.com“. It’s the equivalent of your home address, but on the internet.
In slightly more technical terms, each domain name corresponds to an IP address – a series of numbers that computers use to identify websites. Because these numbers are hard to remember, we use domain names that are easier to recall. The system that matches domain names to IP addresses is called DNS (Domain Name System).
Why is the age of a domain name important?
The age of a domain name is like the age of a company – the older the domain name, the more likely it is to be reliable. Conversely, the newer it is, the more doubts can be raised about its legitimacy!
Where can you find the age of a domain name?
The age of a domain name can be found using online tools called “WHOIS”. These tools provide information about the domain name, including the date it was first registered, which gives you its age. You just need to enter the domain name into the tool and it will provide you with this information.
It is precisely in the Whois database that Scamdoc.com automatically seeks this information.
How to display this information on Scamdoc?
Although little communication is made around this, Scamdoc is one of the tools available on the Web to retrieve the Whois of a website. Here’s how to do it.
When you are on the home page, type the name of the site you want to get information about. An analysis is launched…
Once you are on the report page, you can consult the Whois by clicking on the link “View available info” displayed in the part of the table named “Owner identification in the Whois”:

What are the limitations?
Relying on the age of a domain name to establish a reliability index has several limitations.
First, there is the case of expired domain names. Sometimes, an old domain name is not renewed by its owner and becomes available to be repurchased. Ill-intentioned people can then buy it and use it to deceive visitors, who believe they are visiting a trusted site because its domain name is old.
Then, even a well-established and trusted website can be hacked. Hackers can use a legitimate website to send spam or disseminate malware. In this case, an old domain name does not guarantee that the site is safe.
Finally, this approach can penalize legitimate new sites. A new website can be perfectly reliable and of high quality, but since its domain name is new, people might consider it less trustworthy.
In conclusion, although the age of a domain name can give an indication of reliability, it cannot be the only factor to consider.
What is the impact of this criterion on the Scamdoc score?
Scamdoc uses dozens of criteria in its scoring algorithm. The age of a domain name is a criterion that can carry considerable weight in the final score especially when it is very recent. However, since the algorithm is machine learning type, the weight of this criterion can fluctuate from one case to another depending on the other information available.