Infrastructure
· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.CIPv6 ReadinessActionNo IPv6 supportREVIEW
IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.
No AAAA records — same impact as 'no IPv6 (AAAA) records'; IPv6-preferring clients pay extra latency falling back to IPv4.
Source: Google IPv6 stats
BURL Variantswww/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPSREVIEW
www / non-www
Inconsistent — duplicate content risk
HTTP → HTTPS
Consistent
BTLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations42 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to addressREVIEW
Certificate validity
Recommended actions
- Enable HSTS: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
- Enable DNSSEC on your domain for DNS spoofing protection
- Enable OCSP stapling on your TLS server to remove a CA roundtrip and protect user privacy
BCDN & DeliveryCloudflare (BYPASS)REVIEW
A+DNS Records2 A records, 59 ms lookupPASS
| A | 162.159.142.170, 172.66.2.166 |
| AAAA | — |
| CNAME | — |
| NS | ns-cloud-a4.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-a3.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-a2.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-a1.googledomains.com |
| MX | 1 aspmx.l.google.com 5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com 5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com 10 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com 10 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com |
| TXT | google-site-verification=-hU6DGjkvnMuJPZ1_OGOsg4cEPJDosCUKtmGk9Pnp3E _globalsign-domain-verification=SQONiBgTxRVzPPtIHjei_IUGCiAa0KxoVWFw1QfVes google-site-verification=ToKOLz4HFo4xPAM-UQDEM7ML8pdnj6bwjhlsfxc4AnE b2ghva4nalthqe5j5toell04l0 064f38ed44504274844c153f5e40f070 BSI191135850612 google-site-verification=hh5EZWpwuTsKtTLL9XFzS8J199CXG6oLdt1WlKtH_9Y MS=ms69493144 SPF v=spf1 a mx include:sendgrid.net include:_spf.google.com ~all |
| CAA | Lookup not available with standard resolver |
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.
ARedirect Chain1 redirect(s), 349 ms totalPASS
https://metacritic.com
250 ms · HTTP/1.1
https://www.metacritic.com/
99 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL
| # | URL | Status | Time | Protocol | Server |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | https://metacritic.com | 301 | 250 ms | HTTP/1.1 | cloudflare |
| 2 | https://www.metacritic.com/ | 200 | 99 ms | HTTP/1.1 | cloudflare |
See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →
A+Crawlabilityrobots.txt present, sitemap with 16 URLsPASS
User-agent: AhrefsBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: AwarioRssBot
User-agent: AwarioSmartBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: barkrowler
Disallow: /
User-agent: BLEXBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: CCBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: DataForSeoBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: dotbot
Disallow: /
User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: ImagesiftBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: MJ12bot
Disallow: /
User-agent: SemrushBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: TurnitinBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: *
Disallow: /search
Disallow: /signup
Disallow: /login
Disallow: /user
Disallow: /jl/
# Google is crawling the Ad defineSlot() parameters. Exclude them so we don't get a bunch of 404s.
Disallow: /8264/
Disallow: /7336/
User-agent: AmazonAdBot
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://www.metacritic.com/news/latest.xml
Sitemap: https://www.metacritic.com/news/index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.metacritic.com/galleries/index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.metacritic.com/games.xml
Sitemap: https://www.metacritic.com/movies.xml
Sitemap: https://www.metacritic.com/tvshows.xml
Sitemap: https://www.metacritic.com/celebrities.xml
- https://www.metacritic.com/news/new-free-games-playstation-xbox-pc/
- https://www.metacritic.com/a/img/2023/09/09/dd275360-66d5-481a-abcb-aa7c3ff32602/freegames.jpg
- https://www.metacritic.com/news/dvd-blu-ray-new-and-upcoming-release-calendar/
- https://www.metacritic.com/a/img/2026/03/30/b4acb5c5-27c0-4521-a4ad-de5699c56bae/dvdbluray-2026-04.jpg
- https://www.metacritic.com/news/2025-video-game-awards-tracker/
A+Domain Intelligencemetacritic.com — via Tucows Domains Inc., 27 years, 1 months old, hosted on CloudflarePASS
397 days
July 16, 2027
42 days
Issued by Google Trust Services
27 years, 1 months
Registered July 16, 1999
Not enabled
Protects against DNS spoofing
Cloudflare
ASN AS13335
162.159.142.170
Tucows Domains Inc.
Expiry timeline
Recommended actions
- Enable DNSSEC to protect visitors from DNS spoofing
- Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers
DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.
Without DNSSEC, an attacker who can poison your DNS can hijack your domain — and SSL certs alone don't stop them.
Learn more ▾ ▴
DNSSEC adds cryptographic signatures to DNS records, preventing forged responses from poisoning resolver caches. Without it, an attacker who controls the network path can redirect your domain to a malicious server before any HTTPS handshake happens. Most modern registrars (Cloudflare, Google Domains, Route 53) enable it with one toggle.
Source: ICANN / RFC 4033
The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.
Without registrar lock, an attacker who phishes your registrar credentials can transfer the domain in minutes — total brand hijack.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited) requires extra verification before any transfer/update/delete. Every major registrar offers it free. Combined with 2FA on your registrar account, it's the strongest defense against domain hijacking.
Source: ICANN / domain-security best practice