Sampled outbound link returned 404 or 410 to two HTTP checks
A sampled outbound link returned 404 or 410 to two bounded HTTP checks.
Why it matters
An outbound reference can change independently of the site that links to it. A matching 404 or 410 in both checks is a useful prompt to review the destination and decide whether the reference should be updated, replaced, or removed.
This is a scan-time result for sampled URLs. It is not a statement that a destination will respond the same way for every visitor or at a later time.
How ShipReady detects it
What it inspects
ShipReady extracts static anchor href targets from successfully fetched pages, resolves them against the linking page, and considers only external HTTP or HTTPS targets.
Before a request, ShipReady requires the target to pass its safe-URL guard: it must resolve only to public, routable addresses. Unsafe, private, malformed, and unresolved targets are not probed.
What triggers a finding
For up to 10 distinct external targets, ShipReady first makes a redirect-following HEAD request, falling back to GET only when HEAD returns 405 or 501. The candidate must resolve to 404 or 410, then a second redirect-following GET with a Chrome-like User-Agent must also resolve to 404 or 410.
External probes run with at most three concurrent requests, a five-second client request timeout, and a six-second external-probe phase budget. Targets beyond the first 10 candidates, or work not completed before the budget, are not treated as checked.
What the evidence shows
The evidence proves that a sampled outbound URL returned 404 or 410 to both bounded HTTP checks during the scan. It records up to five URL-and-status pairs and attributes the finding to pages that contained the reported links.
Limits of this check
Same-origin targets, mailto: and tel: links, non-HTTP(S) targets, duplicate targets, unsafe or private targets, and links beyond the external probe cap do not create this finding. The check considers static anchors only, not links created by browser execution.
401, 403, 408, 429, 451, all 5xx responses, network failures, unresolved targets, a different second response, and URLs not reached within the budgets do not create this finding. Some no-answer outcomes are recorded as an informational inspection limit rather than a finding.
The second check is an HTTP GET with a Chrome-like User-Agent, not a real browser session. ShipReady does not execute JavaScript, use a visitor's cookies, test authentication, or establish permanent availability, visitor-specific behavior, SEO impact, ranking impact, or user impact.
How to fix it
Review the reported destination
Open the reported URL and determine whether the reference has moved, should point to a replacement, or is no longer needed in its source context.
Update the source page deliberately
Update, replace, or remove the outbound anchor while preserving any supporting context that depended on the reference.
How to verify the change
Verify the updated reference
Check the published anchor and destination from the relevant deployment context after the change.
Expected: The source page contains the intended outbound reference and the destination behavior is acceptable for the product's use.