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https://politifact.com

Infrastructure

· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
77
GRADE
C
FIX
1
REVIEW
4
PASS
4
INFO
0
Probed from Santa Clara, United States
301 Moved Permanently
Checks
9
4 PASS 4 REVIEW 1 FIX
F
IPv6 Readiness
Action
IPv6 records exist but unreachable
FIX
IPv6 records exist but unreachable
Warning::
IPv6 DNS records exist but server is not reachable
Having AAAA records but an unreachable server is worse than no AAAA — clients may experience delays before falling back to IPv4.
Got: 2606:4700:20::681a:b86, 2606:4700:20::681a:a86, 2606:4700:20::ac43:4620
Info::
IPv6 connection error
Got: dial tcp6 [2606:4700:20::681a:b86]:443: connect: network is unreachable
IPv6 Misconfigured
AAAA Records 2606:4700:20::681a:b86, 2606:4700:20::681a:a86, 2606:4700:20::ac43:4620 Connection UNREACHABLE

Having AAAA records but an unreachable server is worse than no AAAA — clients may experience delays before falling back to IPv4.

Why this matters

Advertising IPv6 (AAAA records) without a reachable server means IPv6-preferring clients silently fail every connection.

Learn more

Modern browsers prefer IPv6 if AAAA exists (Happy Eyeballs algorithm). If the IPv6 server isn't reachable, browsers fall back to IPv4 — but with seconds of added latency per request. Either fix IPv6 reachability or remove the AAAA records.

Source: RFC 8305 (Happy Eyeballs)

B
Crawlability
robots.txt present, no sitemap
REVIEW
robots.txt present, no sitemap
Info::
robots.txt is present
Got: 1248 bytes
Info::
No sitemap.xml found
A sitemap helps search engines discover and index your pages more efficiently.
Info::
robots.txt does not reference a sitemap
Add a 'Sitemap:' directive to robots.txt so search engines can discover your sitemap.

A sitemap helps search engines discover and index your pages more efficiently.

Why this matters

No sitemap.xml — Google relies on crawl-graph discovery alone, slowing indexing of deep or fresh URLs.

Learn more

A sitemap accelerates Google's discovery of new and updated content. Most CMSes auto-generate one; static-site frameworks need a build-step plugin. Reference it from robots.txt and submit in Search Console to confirm Google can fetch it.

Source: sitemaps.org / Google Search Central

Add a 'Sitemap:' directive to robots.txt so search engines can discover your sitemap.

Why this matters

robots.txt omits Sitemap: directive — crawlers must fetch /sitemap.xml by convention; reliable but missing the explicit hint.

Source: sitemaps.org

robots.txt 200 OK
Size 1248 B Sitemaps referenced 0 User-agents Blocking No — crawling allowed
# As a condition of accessing this website, you agree to abide by the following
# content signals:

# (a)  If a content-signal = yes, you may collect content for the corresponding
#      use.
# (b)  If a content-signal = no, you may not collect content for the
#      corresponding use.
# (c)  If the website operator does not include a content signal for a
#      corresponding use, the website operator neither grants nor restricts
#      permission via content signal with respect to the corresponding use.

# The content signals and their meanings are:

# search:   building a search index and providing search results (e.g., returning
#           hyperlinks and short excerpts from your website's contents). Search does not
#           include providing AI-generated search summaries.
# ai-input: inputting content into one or more AI models (e.g., retrieval
#           augmented generation, grounding, or other real-time taking of content for
#           generative AI search answers).
# ai-train: training or fine-tuning AI models.

# ANY RESTRICTIONS EXPRESSED VIA CONTENT SIGNALS ARE EXPRESS RESERVATIONS OF
# RIGHTS UNDER ARTICLE 4 OF THE EUROPEAN UNION DIRECTIVE 2019/790 ON COPYRIGHT
# AND RELATED RIGHTS IN THE DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET.

sitemap.xml No sitemap found

No sitemap found

Adding a sitemap helps search engines discover your pages.

B
URL Variants
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
REVIEW
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
Critical::
Both www and non-www versions serve content
Got: Both variants return 200 Expected: One variant 301-redirects to the other
Info::
HTTP correctly 301-redirects to HTTPS

www / non-www

200https://www.politifact.com/
200https://politifact.com/

Inconsistent — duplicate content risk

HTTP → HTTPS

301http://politifact.com/ https://www.politifact.com/

Consistent

B
TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations
53 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to address
REVIEW

Certificate validity

53
days left
0d 30d 60d 90d+

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
B
CDN & Delivery
Cloudflare
REVIEW
Cloudflare
Info::
Site is served via Cloudflare CDN (edge: SJC)
Got: cf-ray: 9f004006cf47208c-SJC
CDN Detected: Cloudflare
Provider Cloudflare Evidence cf-ray: 9f004006cf47208c-SJC
A+
DNS Records
3 A records, 11 ms lookup
PASS
3 A records, 11 ms lookup
Info::
Resolves to 3 IPv4 address(es)
Got: 172.67.70.32, 104.26.11.134, 104.26.10.134
Info::
Has 3 IPv6 (AAAA) record(s)
Got: 2606:4700:20::681a:b86, 2606:4700:20::681a:a86, 2606:4700:20::ac43:4620
Info::
2 nameserver(s) configured
Got: mark.ns.cloudflare.com, molly.ns.cloudflare.com
Info::
5 mail exchanger(s) configured
Info::
CAA records not checked
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Info::
SPF record present in TXT
Info::
DNS resolution time: 11 ms
Got: 11 ms
A172.67.70.32, 104.26.11.134, 104.26.10.134
AAAA2606:4700:20::681a:b86, 2606:4700:20::681a:a86, 2606:4700:20::ac43:4620
CNAME
NSmark.ns.cloudflare.com, molly.ns.cloudflare.com
MX
1 aspmx.l.google.com
5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
10 aspmx2.googlemail.com
10 aspmx3.googlemail.com
TXT
MS=ms21118849
MS=ms35894970
google-site-verification=VvxPYpfp0DJgzbM_V3cXbJ1Z3RvTk7EreCMrnWn77w8
google-site-verification=m-dm9trDBaXPd82Eo2Qj1DyUXhkJOefHE8YQA1LbpTo
SPF v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all
CAALookup not available with standard resolver
Resolved in 11 ms

CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.

Why this matters

Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.

A
Redirect Chain
1 redirect(s), 80 ms total
PASS
1 redirect(s), 80 ms total
Info::
Single redirect
Got: https://politifact.com → https://www.politifact.com/ (301)
Info::
WWW normalization redirect

https://politifact.com

31 ms · HTTP/1.1

301

https://www.politifact.com/

49 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#URLStatusTimeProtocolServer
1https://politifact.com30131 msHTTP/1.1cloudflare
2https://www.politifact.com/20049 msHTTP/1.1cloudflare

See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →

A
Domain Intelligence
politifact.com — via GoDaddy.com, LLC, 19 years, 1 months old, hosted on Cloudflare
PASS
politifact.com — via GoDaddy.com, LLC, 19 years, 1 months old, hosted on Cloudflare
Warning::
Domain expires in 45 days
Consider enabling auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiration.
Got: Expires Jun 6, 2026
Info::
DNSSEC is not enabled
DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.
Info::
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Warning::
Registrar lock is NOT enabled
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.
Info::
Hosting: Cloudflare
Got: AS13335
Domain expiry

EXPIRED

June 6, 2026

SSL certificate

53 days

Issued by Google Trust Services

Domain age

19 years, 1 months

Registered June 6, 2007

DNSSEC

Not enabled

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

Cloudflare

ASN AS13335

104.26.10.134

Registrar

GoDaddy.com, LLC

Unlocked 2 NS records
Expiry timeline
Today
+1 year
Domain expiry SSL expiry Danger zone (≤30 days)
Recommended actions
  • Domain has EXPIRED — renew immediately to avoid total site outage
  • Enable DNSSEC to protect visitors from DNS spoofing
  • Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers
Registrar GoDaddy.com, LLC
Created June 6, 2007 (19 years, 1 months ago)
Expires June 6, 2026 (1 months)
Last Updated June 7, 2025
Name Servers mark.ns.cloudflare.com, molly.ns.cloudflare.com
DNSSEC Not enabled
Hosting
IP Address 104.26.10.134
ASN AS13335 (CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US)
Provider Cloudflare
Data source: rdap (0.2s)

Consider enabling auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiration.

Why this matters

Domain expiry approaching — renew immediately and ensure auto-renew + alerting are configured.

Source: ICANN renewal policy

DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.

Why this matters

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.

Why this matters

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

A+
HTTP Probe Timing
Total 30 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown
PASS
DNS Lookup DNS Lookup — time to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
7 ms
TCP Connect TCP Connect — time to establish a TCP connection to the server.
5 ms
TLS Handshake TLS Handshake — time to complete the HTTPS encryption handshake.
10 ms
Time to First Byte Time to First Byte — how long the server takes to respond with the first byte of data.
30 ms
Total Time Total request time from DNS lookup through full response.
30 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 7 ms TCP Connect 5 ms TLS Handshake 10 ms Server Processing 8 ms Content Transfer 0 ms
All checks on this page are automated. Results are estimates - run targeted manual reviews when the score affects a release decision.

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