Example.com, the reserved domain maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for documentation purposes, received its largest redesign in decades on September 28, 2026, according to DebugBear.
Until the redesign, example.com was a static English-language page. The update introduces multi-language support using JavaScript, cycling through content in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish every 5 seconds. Along with the language switching, the redesign adds an SVG book icon to the page.
The language transition uses a character-by-character animation technique. Each character is wrapped in its own span element, with CSS transition-delay applied differently to each span. This staggered approach creates a gradual opacity transition over 0.4 seconds as the language changes, rather than an abrupt content replacement.
IANA explained the reasoning behind the changes in a statement provided to DebugBear. The organization noted that modifications to the site are typically motivated by reducing bandwidth demands or improving utility. Since example.com receives heavy automated traffic, bandwidth management is a key consideration.
One significant infrastructure change accompanying the redesign involves splitting the page into a basic HTML file and a separate JavaScript file. According to IANA, most traffic to the site is automated and does not fetch the JavaScript file, thereby reducing overall data requirements.
Example.com’s fundamental purpose remains unchanged: serving as a placeholder domain for use in documentation and illustrative examples. IANA clarified that while the domain may receive incidental traffic from users who copy configuration files and forget to customize entries containing example domains, it is not intended as a general-purpose endpoint for availability testing or monitoring. The organization emphasized that relying on example.com for testing purposes is discouraged.
This redesign represents a notable evolution for the domain, which has undergone several visual overhauls over its more than 20-year history. Previous major updates occurred in 2013, 2025, and 2026, though the core messaging about the domain’s documentation purpose has remained consistent.
Key facts
- Example.com was redesigned on September 28, 2026 to add multi-language support cycling through six languages every 5 seconds.
- The redesign implements character-by-character opacity animations using CSS transition-delay on individual span elements.
- IANA split the page into basic HTML and a separate JavaScript file to reduce bandwidth demands from automated traffic.
- The domain is reserved for documentation use and IANA discourages relying on it for testing or monitoring purposes.
- Example.com has undergone several major redesigns over its 20+ year history since launching in 1999.