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- NordVPN just launched 'Is it down?,' a service that checks whether popular websites and services are working correctly
- The tool relies on user reports to function; if users report problems, 'Is it down?' reflects that
- This isn't the only service to check website outages available on the market
NordVPN is the brand behind the best VPN service according to our extensive ranking, but today's announcement is about something slightly different. The company announced the arrival of "Is it down?," a new website checker.
The checker works much the way you'd expect. Users can report outages for some of the most popular services, including Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube. If enough users report an outage, NordVPN's service will show it.
This is a great way to calm those "is it my internet, or is it this specific website" fears that we're no strangers to. However, NordVPN's new feature is entering a saturated market, as it isn't the first service to check website outages.
How does 'Is it down?' work?
Much like similar services, NordVPN's "Is it down?" is simple and, most importantly, completely free to use. If you're having trouble loading a specific website or app, you can visit NordVPN's website and select the service that's currently acting up.
Once you're there, simply click on "Report" and confirm that you're a real person experiencing issues with said service. You can also leave a comment for other users to see if you scroll down the page.
"By providing crowdsourced visibility into service health, we aim to empower users with first-hand information," said NordVPN's CTO, Marijus Briedis.
Beyond the basic reporting function, NordVPN's new tool also lets you see outages that took place over the last 24 hours, as well as short descriptions of past issues.
For instance, on the YouTube page, everything looks like smooth sailing, with the last reported outages noted in 2021, 2020, and 2018. This comes from external sources – NordVPN wasn't monitoring these websites back then.
To determine whether a website is down or not, NordVPN recalculates the status of each service once every 30 minutes. This is based on user reports submitted during a 24-hour window.
The company says that as long as the number of reports doesn't cross the 50% baseline, the service is deemed to be online. Between 50% and 75%, NordVPN reports a partial outage. If the number of reports crosses 75% of the baseline, the service is deemed to be fully down.
NordVPN lets you look up the status of a few different services, including:
- YouTube
- Yahoo
- Discord
- Cox
- Xbox Network
- X (Twitter)
- PlayStation Network
We reached out to NordVPN to ask about its plans for the new feature. A representative for the company confirmed that it’s planning to add more websites and services to ‘Is it down?’ sometime in the future.
Other options exist, but NordVPN could succeed
NordVPN's new feature could certainly come in handy. Many of us wonder whether there's something wrong with our internet when a website won't load – this should fix the problem. However, NordVPN enters a fairly saturated market.
Similar services already exist, in fact, including DownForEveryoneOrJustMe and IsItDownRightNow.
The advantage these have over NordVPN is that they're not limited to a handful of websites; you can type in an address and check whether it works. They ping the server themselves as well as allow user reports, which makes them a little more standalone than the NordVPN alternative.
However, NordVPN could very well succeed in this field. It's a well-known brand, globally recognized for excellent VPN solutions. This could make it easier for users to find the new service and adopt it as their go-to option during website outages.
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