Every technology we detect on a website is given a confidence score from 0
to 1 (you can also think of this as 0% to 100%). This score tells you how
much you can trust that a particular detection is accurate and current.
A score of 1 (100%) means we're quite confident in the detection. Lower
scores mean there's some reason to treat the detection with more caution -
for example, it may be outdated, it may be from a site with unreliable
signals, or it was only seen once rather than being confirmed over time.
Why would a score be lower than 100%?
The site shows signs of being a scam or gambling-related site
If we detect that a website is flagged as a scam or contains gambling
content, we treat most of the OTHER technologies detected on that site
as unreliable, since scam and gambling sites often carry leftover or
misleading technology signals. Basic infrastructure information (who
hosts the site, its mail provider, who it's registered with, etc.) is
not affected, since that information is still accurate regardless.
The site appears to be "parked"
A parked domain is one that isn't actively being used for a real
website (for example, someone owns the domain name but hasn't built a
site on it yet). Parked domains often still show older technology
detections left over from before they were parked, so we reduce
confidence in those detections. Hosting information and the "parked"
status itself are not affected.
The technology was only seen one time
If we've only detected a technology once, with no additional
confirmation, we treat it as slightly less certain than a technology
we've confirmed multiple times.
The detection hasn't been seen recently, and something newer has
replaced it
If we previously detected one technology in a given spot on a website,
and we've since detected a different, more recent technology in that
same spot, that's a sign the older detection may no longer be accurate.
The more time that's passed and the more clearly it's been replaced,
the more the older detection's confidence is reduced - though this
factor alone will never fully zero out a score, since the absence of a
recent re-detection is only a mild warning sign, not proof the
technology is gone.
Certain categories of information we collect are business or operational
in nature rather than a technology signal (for example, information used
for intelligence purposes rather than identifying what software or
platform is running on a site). These are always assigned a fixed
confidence of 50%, since they follow a different kind of verification
process than typical technology detections.
How to read the score
- 100% - We're confident in this detection.
- Lower percentages - One or more of the factors above applies. The more
factors that apply, and the more strongly they apply, the lower the
score.
- 50% (fixed) - This is a business/operational data point, not a standard
technology detection.
- 0% - Something weird is going on, maybe a scam site