DNS
A public resolver (Google, or Cloudflare if Google does not answer) is asked for the A and AAAA records. NXDOMAIN means the name is not in DNS. An address means the name exists, even if the website behind it is broken.
Type an address. The page asks public DNS where the name points, then asks your browser whether it can get a response from where you are sitting.
A public resolver (Google, or Cloudflare if Google does not answer) is asked for the A and AAAA records. NXDOMAIN means the name is not in DNS. An address means the name exists, even if the website behind it is broken.
The page then requests the URL from this browser. If a response comes back, the host answered your network. Browsers will not reveal the HTTP status code to another website, so this cannot tell a clean 200 from a 500.
This is not a monitor. It does not probe the site every minute, from many countries, or by email. One check answers “what happens from here, right now?” Apps such as Instagram or a bank's mobile app can fail while their marketing website still answers, and the other way around. Paste the address you actually cannot open.
No. It proves your browser got a response and public DNS had a record. Another country, or a mobile network, can still fail.
A web page cannot send an ICMP ping. It can make an HTTP request and a DNS-over-HTTPS query. Those are the two signals on this page.
No history is kept by this site. The hostname does go to Google or Cloudflare for the DNS query, and your browser contacts the site itself. See the privacy notice.