FAQ
How the checker works, what we refuse to guess, and how to reach us.
- What does Outage Status Now actually check?
- Two things. The homepage checker fetches any URL you type and tells you whether the host answered. Separately, we refresh official vendor status pages about every five minutes and save the result. Service pages use that saved result — they do not call the vendor when you open them.
- Why did you say a site is up when I cannot load it?
- Because the host answered us. 403 and 429 are treated as bot-protection, not downtime. If colleagues can load it and you cannot, read the 'works for others' guide: DNS, cache, ISP, or a regional block.
- Do you invent status when a feed fails?
- No. We say we cannot read a live public feed, keep the last known snapshot if we have one, link the official page, and show upstream tools plus a checklist. Okta is the standing example: their machine-readable feeds are not public, so we will not paint the page green.
- Is this an official vendor page?
- No. Always use the official status link on each service page for contractual or customer-comms wording.
- How is the site paid for?
- Ads (when they are enabled) and labelled affiliate links. Ads never push the checker or the live status box off the first screen. Affiliate cards stay hidden until a real partner URL is configured.
- How do I report a wrong status or a feed we should add?
- Email hello@outagestatusnow.com. There is no ticket portal. Include the URL and what the official vendor page showed at the time.
More detail sits on the data sources page. For a human, use contact.