Domain Blacklist Checker

A blacklist (also called a blocklist or reputation list) is a database of domains that a security vendor considers dangerous or spammy. Browsers, antivirus software, firewalls and mail servers query these lists constantly. If your domain is on one, the software that relies on it blocks your website, warns your visitors or rejects your email, usually without telling you.

This checker asks four of the most influential sources about your domain at the same time and turns their answers into one of three verdicts:

• Clean: the source knows the domain and does not flag it.
• Flagged: the source lists the domain as malicious, phishing, malware, suspicious or spam.
• Unknown: the source has no verdict yet, or it could not be reached in time. Unknown is not the same as clean, so check again later.

The VirusTotal lookup returns the latest verdicts of 90+ antivirus and URL scanning engines, including Google Safe Browsing. Spamhaus DBL and URIBL are DNS-based blocklists: a mail server looks up a special hostname built from your domain, and the answer tells it whether the domain is listed. We run those lookups for you and explain the result in plain language.

There are hundreds of reputation lists, but a handful decide what most of the internet sees. These four have the widest reach:

• Google Safe Browsing protects Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Android. A listing shows a full-page red warning before anyone reaches your site and can get Google Ads suspended. Read the Google Safe Browsing review guide.
• VirusTotal combines 90+ security vendors such as Fortinet, BitDefender, Kaspersky and Sophos. A single vendor flag can be enough for corporate firewalls and email gateways to block your links. Read the VirusTotal delisting guide.
• Spamhaus DBL is used by a large share of the world's mail servers and spam filters. A listing means email that mentions your domain, including your own newsletters and invoices, is rejected or sent to spam. Read the Spamhaus DBL removal guide.
• URIBL feeds SpamAssassin and the spam filters of many hosting providers. It scores any email that links to a listed domain as spam. Read the URIBL removal guide.

If email delivery is your main worry, also run the Email Blacklist Checker. It checks your domain against 20 spam blacklists, including Spamhaus DBL, URIBL, Abusix, PhishTank and Abuse.ch URLhaus.

Most flags on business domains are false positives, or the after-effect of a problem that has already been fixed. The usual causes are:

• A hacked plugin or theme that injected malicious code or redirects, even for a few hours.
• A newly registered domain with no history, which some engines treat as suspicious by default.
• Shared hosting or a shared IP address with a site that sends spam or hosts malware.
• Link shorteners, file downloads or login pages that look like phishing to an automated scanner.
• An email campaign sent to old or purchased lists that hit spam traps.
• One vendor copying another vendor's verdict, so a single flag spreads to several engines.

Because many engines feed each other, an old listing can stay visible long after the cause is gone. That is why fixing the website alone is rarely enough: each vendor has to be asked to review the domain again.

• Confirm the listing. Note which vendors flag the domain and the exact category, such as phishing, malware or spam. Open each result above to see what the flag means.
• Find and fix the cause. Scan the site for malware, update your website software and plugins, remove unknown admin users, change passwords and check your email accounts for misuse. Asking for removal before the cause is fixed usually leads to a rejection, and a repeat listing is harder to remove.
• Request a review from every vendor. Each vendor has its own process. Google uses Search Console, Spamhaus has a self-service ticket form, and most VirusTotal engines want a separate email or web form. Follow the delisting guide linked next to each result.
• Keep watching the domain. Check again after each request, and keep monitoring afterwards, because listings come back when the cause returns.

If you would rather not chase vendors yourself, BrandsDefender files every request for you and follows up until the domain is clean. It is no cure, no pay: you only pay when the listing is removed. If your domain is clean today, you can monitor it daily for free for 14 days and get an alert the moment a vendor flags it.