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Expired Domain Hunter

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Expired Domain Hunter finds expired domains and broken links in your niche. Old YouTube videos and Wikipedia pages still link to sites and pages that are gone: it reads those links, probes each one, asks the registry whether a dead site's domain can be registered again (with backlink numbers for the ones that can), and keeps the dead pages on domains that are still registered as broken links for broken link building. You decide what to buy or pitch, and do it yourself.

6 min read4 stepsUpdated November 2, 2026

Before you start

  • Your Aha Studio accountExpired Domain Hunter is for members: 10 hunts a month. There is no free demo, because it runs on your own keys; the page shows an Example result made of sample data instead. Unlimited with your own DataForSEO login after your first 14 days.
  • A YouTube API key (free)Add it in Account › Keys and connections under Search data. It comes from Google Cloud with 10,000 free units a day: a search costs 100, reading 50 descriptions costs 1. Quota belongs to the Google Cloud project, so add one key per project; the pool moves to the next key when one runs out. With no key, the hunt reads Wikipedia only.
  • Your DataForSEO login (for the numbers)Backlink numbers come from DataForSEO and are bought only for the domains that are available: about $0.10 per 1,000 available domains at DataForSEO's listed price. The page shows the estimate first and meters what DataForSEO actually charges.
Every number shows where it came from and when: views from YouTube on the day the description was read, availability from the registry's own RDAP answer on the day it was asked, backlink numbers from DataForSEO on the day they were read. Nothing is registered for you and no registrar account is made.
PART 01

Start a hunt

0 of 4 done
  1. Open Expired Domain HunterAt expireddomains.ahastudio.net, or press Start something new on your account page and choose Expired domain hunt.
  2. Type a niche or paste keywordsNiche alone hunts that phrase. Seed keywords, one per line, hunts each one (up to 25 a hunt). Each keyword costs one YouTube search (100 units).
  3. Choose the optionsVideos per keyword (up to 50, one results page). Also scan Wikipedia reads up to 10 pages per keyword and the pages Wikipedia itself marks as having dead links. Upload date keeps videos at least 1 to 10 years old: older videos link to more sites that have gone. Only these TLDs keeps, say, com and net. Backlink metrics can be switched off.
  4. Press Start the huntIt runs in the background a little at a time, so you can close the page. A stopped stage shows its cause and Retry; everything already done is kept, and it carries on from where it stopped.
PART 02

What it does

SearchEach keyword on YouTube with your own keys, and on Wikipedia when switched on.
DescriptionsThe full description and the view count of every video, 50 at a time, and each Wikipedia page's external links.
LinksEvery external link, once. Left out: YouTube itself (the creator's own channel and videos), social profiles, the big platforms that never lapse and hosted subdomains such as a blogspot address. Shortened and tracking links are followed to where they lead before anything is decided.
ProbeEach link is opened by our own checker: not found (404), gone (410), a "not found" page, a deep page sent to the home page, or a site with no DNS any more count as dead. A few at a time, never two at once on the same site.
AvailabilityEach dead link's domain is asked of its registry over RDAP. Available only when the registry says it has no such domain. Pending delete and Redemption are shown as the registry says them. A TLD with no RDAP server is Not checked, never assumed available.
MetricsReferring domains, backlinks, domain rank and spam score from DataForSEO, for the available domains only. For broken links only when you press Get backlink numbers for these pages.
PART 03

Read the results

The tableDomain, TLD, availability with the date RDAP answered, Found on (the videos and pages that link to it, each with its views and upload date), first and last seen dates, and the metrics with their date. Filter by availability or TLD and sort by any column.
Check it yourselfEach row links to a registrar search and to the Wayback Machine, so you can see what the site was before you buy. Nothing is automated.
Download CSVIn Expired domains, Download CSV saves every domain and Available only the available ones. In Broken links, Download CSV saves every broken link.
Units and moneyThe hunt card shows the YouTube units used (and the keys, by their last 4 characters) and the money spent on DataForSEO.
PART 04

Broken links

Many dead links point to a domain that is still registered: the site answers, but the page is gone. Those are kept in the Broken links view, beside Expired domains, for broken link building.

What each row showsThe dead address, its domain (registered: its site answers, or RDAP says taken), what our probe found (not found, gone, a "not found" page, or a deep page sent to the home page), where it was linked from (the videos and pages, with views and dates), how many places link to it, and a Wayback Machine link to see what the page was.
How to use itWrite a page that genuinely replaces what the dead page offered, then ask the sites that linked to it whether yours would help their readers. Video descriptions and Wikipedia are not sites you email: for Wikipedia the Backlink Worker shows the honest route, a disclosed note on the Talk page.
Backlink numbersOnly when you ask: press Get backlink numbers for these pages on a finished hunt (up to 1,000 pages a press). The estimate is shown beside the button and what DataForSEO charges is metered.
Hand-offsThere is no send to Outreach here: Outreach takes the Backlink Worker's own rows, where the linking page is a site with a contact. Use the CSV.
PART 05

Your limits

Each month10hunts. Unlimited with your own DataForSEO login after your first 14 days.
Keywords25per hunt (1 hunt of up to 10 in your first 14 days)
Links5000kept per hunt, up to 1000 domains checked
PART 06

If something looks wrong

Still stuck? Email support@anthonyhayes.me or open the help desk.
Ready to build?Type your niche or paste your keywords, choose how many videos per keyword, then press *Start the hunt*.Open Expired Domain Hunter