IANA's VP personally replied explaining that example.com recently changed its page structure—splitting content into a basic HTML page and a separate JavaScript file—to reduce bandwidth from automated traffic. IANA emphasized the domain exists solely as a documentation placeholder and discourages using it for general-purpose endpoints like availability testing.
Background
IANA manages critical DNS root zone functions including the reservation of special-use domains like example.com, which is widely used in documentation and examples but receives significant unintended traffic.
- Source
- Lobsters
- Published
- Oct 1, 2026 at 04:47 PM
- Score
- 5.0 / 10