How is this possible?

[Joep]

Hi everyone!
I need your help please.

Lately I have been looking for domains with traffic.
Last week I encountered something kinda strange.
I found a domain that has been regged since 1998.
The last known website behind this domain ended in February 2005 (according to archive.org)
When you type in the domain you'll get an error, no website found.
Traffic isn't redirected.
The domain isn't parked.

According to Estibot it has 1.500 visits per day.
According to StatBrain it has 5.000+ visits per day.
According to TrafficEstimate it had 82.200 visits in the last 30 days, but the trafficchart starts in July/August 2009.
Before that there weren't any visitors.

I am interested in buying the domain but it feels kinda fishy.
The seller based his asking price (couple of thousand bucks) on the traffic.
But are these reel visitors?
Or is this bot traffic?
And why does traffic shoot up from 0 to a couple of thousand in just a month without a website?
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Rich]

In my experience when finding old names with traffic that don't resolve like the one you described, the name is often trademarked(or a typo "registered in bad faith"). I've seen traffic shoot up for no reason, I think it could be anything from a new trend to someone having a similar, longer URL or simply not typing the whole extension. Maybe the owner has traffic stats he can share that will determine if the traffic is real or generated. Just be careful with making purchases based solely on traffic.

 

[HuntingMoon]

it could be a lot of things such as image calls from google or hotlinks or something that is hard to monetize. estibot and alexa et al. are not reliable for traffic. you need the server logs and/or screencaps. the category of the domain and whether the traffic is from hardlinks or type-ins etc all figure into the valuation as well.

at the end of the day, if you have "it's fishy" feeling, then move on to your next prospect. the majority of the time your first instinct is spot on.

 

[Joep]

Ok thanks!
I moved on to the next one.