Early observations · Self-selected sample
DR4 preview study: 38 of 43 checked hosts scored lower
· The Launch Story
We captured the latest available DR3 and DR4 results for 43 exact hosts listed on our public checker’s leaderboard. In this small sample, 38 had a lower DR4 score, 3 had a higher score and 2 were unchanged.
These are observations from visitors’ checks, rather than a random sample of startups or the web. They describe this group at the time it was captured. They cannot establish how often other websites will move, or predict search traffic.
The middle of this sample moved down
| Measure | Observed value |
|---|---|
| Median DR3 | 63 |
| Median DR4 | 29 |
| Median per-host point change | -25 |
| Positive DR3 to zero DR4 | 9 of 43 |
The median per-host change is calculated from each host’s DR4 minus its DR3. It is a different calculation from subtracting the two column medians. Domain Rating uses a logarithmic scale, so point differences should not be presented as percentages of traffic or backlink strength lost.
What this tells us
The comparison gives a useful reason to check your own exact host. A familiar DR3 score can differ substantially from its DR4 preview. It does not reveal the reason for an individual change.
Ahrefs says DR4 gives more weight to links from websites it estimates have organic search traffic, and scores subdomains independently. Our checker has no backlink or traffic data, so this study cannot test that mechanism or identify which links were given less weight. A score of zero alone is not evidence of spam.
Read Ahrefs’ description of the model changeFor a maker, the next useful step is to inspect the actual referring pages and monitor search clicks, referral visitors and signups separately. A scoring-model comparison cannot establish that traffic has fallen.
How we captured the sample
- Source: the latest result for each exact host on our public DR4 leaderboard. Anyone can check a public host; a check does not establish ownership or that a business launched here.
- The capture finished at . The original checks were dated 6 or 7 November. Scores may have changed since those checks, and DR4 remains a preview.
- One observation per exact host. There is one root and www pair in the sample; both are counted separately. Hosts are not necessarily independent businesses.
- Zero is included as an observed score. Missing or failed provider responses are never converted to zero by the checker.
- There is no random sampling, control group, traffic measurement or backlink classification here. There is no basis for estimating an effect on millions of startups from these observations.
- This report is a frozen capture. The live leaderboard can contain more hosts or newer checks. Repeating the capture later may produce different results.
Check the host you actually use
Compare both models while Ahrefs makes them available. Each result shows its original retrieval date.
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