[tjoff]

Just searching surely does not mark them as down?

[jedberg]

That's exactly how it works. The website is just a counter of how many people landed on the page searching for "is $X down"

[tjoff]

I don't know but I really doubt that.

When you search for a service you get the current status and you get the option to report a problem.

The minimal you expect from such a service is to keep track of how many % of users are searching also reports an error. There might of course still be errors but that alone surely can't be it. But please correct me if I'm wrong.

edit: and their own description only mentions actual reports https://downdetector.com/methodology/

[Xenoamorphous]

It does.

[NetMageSCW]

Evidence?

[progforlyfe]

I don't have any proof but it sounds plausible; they also have an interactive button (does not require any login), so it could be that they rank the interactive event higher, but still count plain views as something. I'd say it's a fair indicator at least on a basic level.