diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 5dd4b7f..16179ab 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,16 +1,20 @@
 import fs from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
-import { config } from './lib/utils.js';
+import { config, getProviders, refreshConfig } from './lib/utils.js';
 import * as similarityCache from './lib/services/similarity-check/similarityCache.js';
 import * as jobStorage from './lib/services/storage/jobStorage.js';
 import FredyRuntime from './lib/FredyRuntime.js';
 import { duringWorkingHoursOrNotSet } from './lib/utils.js';
 import { runMigrations } from './lib/services/storage/migrations/migrate.js';
 import { ensureDemoUserExists, ensureAdminUserExists } from './lib/services/storage/userStorage.js';
-import { cleanupDemoAtMidnight } from './lib/services/demoCleanup.js';
-import { initTrackerCron } from './lib/services/tracking/Tracker-Cron.js';
+import { cleanupDemoAtMidnight } from './lib/services/crons/demoCleanup-cron.js';
+import { initTrackerCron } from './lib/services/crons/tracker-cron.js';
 import logger from './lib/services/logger.js';
 import { bus } from './lib/services/events/event-bus.js';
+import { initActiveCheckerCron } from './lib/services/crons/listing-alive-cron.js';
+
+// Load configuration before any other startup steps
+await refreshConfig();
 
 // Ensure sqlite directory exists before loading anything else (based on config.sqlitepath)
 const rawDir = config.sqlitepath || '/db';
@@ -23,8 +27,9 @@ if (!fs.existsSync(absDir)) {
 // Run DB migrations once at startup and block until finished
 await runMigrations();
 
-const providersPath = './lib/provider';
-const provider = fs.readdirSync(providersPath).filter((file) => file.endsWith('.js'));
+// Load provider modules once at startup
+const providers = await getProviders();
+
 //assuming interval is always in minutes
 const INTERVAL = config.interval * 60 * 1000;
 
@@ -38,13 +43,11 @@ if (config.demoMode) {
 
 logger.info(`Started Fredy successfully. Ui can be accessed via http://localhost:${config.port}`);
 
-const fetchedProvider = await Promise.all(
-  provider.filter((provider) => provider.endsWith('.js')).map(async (pro) => import(`${providersPath}/${pro}`)),
-);
-
 ensureAdminUserExists();
 ensureDemoUserExists();
 await initTrackerCron();
+//do not wait for this to finish, let it run in the background
+initActiveCheckerCron();
 
 bus.on('jobs:runAll', () => {
   logger.debug('Running Fredy Job manually');
@@ -61,11 +64,17 @@ const execute = () => {
         .filter((job) => job.enabled)
         .forEach((job) => {
           job.provider
-            .filter((p) => fetchedProvider.find((fp) => fp.metaInformation.id === p.id) != null)
+            .filter((p) => providers.find((loaded) => loaded.metaInformation.id === p.id) != null)
             .forEach(async (prov) => {
-              const pro = fetchedProvider.find((fp) => fp.metaInformation.id === prov.id);
-              pro.init(prov, job.blacklist);
-              await new FredyRuntime(pro.config, job.notificationAdapter, prov.id, job.id, similarityCache).execute();
+              const matchedProvider = providers.find((loaded) => loaded.metaInformation.id === prov.id);
+              matchedProvider.init(prov, job.blacklist);
+              await new FredyRuntime(
+                matchedProvider.config,
+                job.notificationAdapter,
+                prov.id,
+                job.id,
+                similarityCache,
+              ).execute();
             });
         });
     } else {
diff --git a/lib/provider/einsAImmobilien.js b/lib/provider/einsAImmobilien.js
index 10fc319..eabe299 100755
--- a/lib/provider/einsAImmobilien.js
+++ b/lib/provider/einsAImmobilien.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import utils, { buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import { buildHash, isOneOf } from '../utils.js';
+import checkIfListingIsActive from '../services/listings/listingActiveTester.js';
 let appliedBlackList = [];
 
 function normalize(o) {
@@ -29,8 +30,8 @@ function normalizePrice(price) {
   return result[0];
 }
 function applyBlacklist(o) {
-  const titleNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
-  const descNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
+  const titleNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
+  const descNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
   return titleNotBlacklisted && descNotBlacklisted;
 }
 
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ const config = {
   },
   normalize: normalize,
   filter: applyBlacklist,
+  activeTester: checkIfListingIsActive,
 };
 export const init = (sourceConfig, blacklist) => {
   config.enabled = sourceConfig.enabled;
diff --git a/lib/provider/immobilienDe.js b/lib/provider/immobilienDe.js
index d614aa4..ba39412 100644
--- a/lib/provider/immobilienDe.js
+++ b/lib/provider/immobilienDe.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import utils, { buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import { buildHash, isOneOf } from '../utils.js';
+import checkIfListingIsActive from '../services/listings/listingActiveTester.js';
 
 let appliedBlackList = [];
 
@@ -24,8 +25,8 @@ function normalize(o) {
 }
 
 function applyBlacklist(o) {
-  const titleNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
-  const descNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
+  const titleNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
+  const descNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
   return titleNotBlacklisted && descNotBlacklisted;
 }
 
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ const config = {
   },
   normalize: normalize,
   filter: applyBlacklist,
+  activeTester: checkIfListingIsActive,
 };
 export const init = (sourceConfig, blacklist) => {
   config.enabled = sourceConfig.enabled;
diff --git a/lib/provider/immonet.js b/lib/provider/immonet.js
index 5e1a2a2..2499e56 100755
--- a/lib/provider/immonet.js
+++ b/lib/provider/immonet.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import utils, { buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import { isOneOf, buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import checkIfListingIsActive from '../services/listings/listingActiveTester.js';
 let appliedBlackList = [];
 
 function normalize(o) {
@@ -11,8 +12,8 @@ function normalize(o) {
   return Object.assign(o, { id, address, price, size, title, link });
 }
 function applyBlacklist(o) {
-  const titleNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
-  const descNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
+  const titleNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
+  const descNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
   return titleNotBlacklisted && descNotBlacklisted;
 }
 const config = {
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ const config = {
   },
   normalize: normalize,
   filter: applyBlacklist,
+  activeTester: checkIfListingIsActive,
 };
 export const init = (sourceConfig, blacklist) => {
   config.enabled = sourceConfig.enabled;
diff --git a/lib/provider/immoscout.js b/lib/provider/immoscout.js
index f1cf7ba..58e1e3b 100644
--- a/lib/provider/immoscout.js
+++ b/lib/provider/immoscout.js
@@ -35,8 +35,11 @@
  *
  */
 
-import utils, { buildHash } from '../utils.js';
-import { convertWebToMobile } from '../services/immoscout/immoscout-web-translator.js';
+import { buildHash, isOneOf } from '../utils.js';
+import {
+  convertImmoscoutListingToMobileListing,
+  convertWebToMobile,
+} from '../services/immoscout/immoscout-web-translator.js';
 import logger from '../services/logger.js';
 let appliedBlackList = [];
 
@@ -77,6 +80,25 @@ async function getListings(url) {
     });
 }
 
+async function isListingActive(link) {
+  const result = await fetch(convertImmoscoutListingToMobileListing(link), {
+    headers: {
+      'User-Agent': 'ImmoScout_27.3_26.0_._',
+    },
+  });
+
+  if (result.status === 200) {
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  if (result.status === 404) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+
+  logger.warn('Unknown status for immoscout listing', link);
+  return -1;
+}
+
 function nullOrEmpty(val) {
   return val == null || val.length === 0;
 }
@@ -87,7 +109,7 @@ function normalize(o) {
   return Object.assign(o, { id, title, address });
 }
 function applyBlacklist(o) {
-  return !utils.isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
+  return !isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
 }
 const config = {
   url: null,
@@ -104,6 +126,7 @@ const config = {
   normalize: normalize,
   filter: applyBlacklist,
   getListings: getListings,
+  activeTester: isListingActive,
 };
 export const init = (sourceConfig, blacklist) => {
   config.enabled = sourceConfig.enabled;
diff --git a/lib/provider/immoswp.js b/lib/provider/immoswp.js
index 7bb9548..5c911d1 100755
--- a/lib/provider/immoswp.js
+++ b/lib/provider/immoswp.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import utils, { buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import { isOneOf, buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import checkIfListingIsActive from '../services/listings/listingActiveTester.js';
 
 let appliedBlackList = [];
 
@@ -14,8 +15,8 @@ function normalize(o) {
 }
 
 function applyBlacklist(o) {
-  const titleNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
-  const descNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
+  const titleNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
+  const descNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
   return titleNotBlacklisted && descNotBlacklisted;
 }
 
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ const config = {
   },
   normalize: normalize,
   filter: applyBlacklist,
+  activeTester: checkIfListingIsActive,
 };
 export const init = (sourceConfig, blacklist) => {
   config.enabled = sourceConfig.enabled;
diff --git a/lib/provider/immowelt.js b/lib/provider/immowelt.js
index afdb057..924936e 100755
--- a/lib/provider/immowelt.js
+++ b/lib/provider/immowelt.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import utils, { buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import { buildHash, isOneOf } from '../utils.js';
+import checkIfListingIsActive from '../services/listings/listingActiveTester.js';
 
 let appliedBlackList = [];
 
@@ -8,8 +9,8 @@ function normalize(o) {
 }
 
 function applyBlacklist(o) {
-  const titleNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
-  const descNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
+  const titleNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
+  const descNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
   return titleNotBlacklisted && descNotBlacklisted;
 }
 
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ const config = {
   },
   normalize: normalize,
   filter: applyBlacklist,
+  activeTester: checkIfListingIsActive,
 };
 export const init = (sourceConfig, blacklist) => {
   config.enabled = sourceConfig.enabled;
diff --git a/lib/provider/kleinanzeigen.js b/lib/provider/kleinanzeigen.js
index f21cd16..e322c5b 100755
--- a/lib/provider/kleinanzeigen.js
+++ b/lib/provider/kleinanzeigen.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import utils, { buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import { buildHash, isOneOf } from '../utils.js';
+import checkIfListingIsActive from '../services/listings/listingActiveTester.js';
 
 let appliedBlackList = [];
 let appliedBlacklistedDistricts = [];
@@ -11,10 +12,10 @@ function normalize(o) {
 }
 
 function applyBlacklist(o) {
-  const titleNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
-  const descNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
+  const titleNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
+  const descNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
   const isBlacklistedDistrict =
-    appliedBlacklistedDistricts.length === 0 ? false : utils.isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlacklistedDistricts);
+    appliedBlacklistedDistricts.length === 0 ? false : isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlacklistedDistricts);
   return o.title != null && !isBlacklistedDistrict && titleNotBlacklisted && descNotBlacklisted;
 }
 
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ const config = {
   },
   normalize: normalize,
   filter: applyBlacklist,
+  activeTester: checkIfListingIsActive,
 };
 export const metaInformation = {
   name: 'Ebay Kleinanzeigen',
diff --git a/lib/provider/neubauKompass.js b/lib/provider/neubauKompass.js
index bdb2fc0..a6cf3cc 100755
--- a/lib/provider/neubauKompass.js
+++ b/lib/provider/neubauKompass.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import utils, { buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import { isOneOf, buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import checkIfListingIsActive from '../services/listings/listingActiveTester.js';
 
 let appliedBlackList = [];
 
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ function normalize(o) {
 }
 
 function applyBlacklist(o) {
-  return !utils.isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
+  return !isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
 }
 
 const config = {
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ const config = {
   },
   normalize: normalize,
   filter: applyBlacklist,
+  activeTester: checkIfListingIsActive,
 };
 export const init = (sourceConfig, blacklist) => {
   config.enabled = sourceConfig.enabled;
diff --git a/lib/provider/wgGesucht.js b/lib/provider/wgGesucht.js
index a287097..f0d441a 100755
--- a/lib/provider/wgGesucht.js
+++ b/lib/provider/wgGesucht.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import utils, { buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import { isOneOf, buildHash } from '../utils.js';
+import checkIfListingIsActive from '../services/listings/listingActiveTester.js';
 
 let appliedBlackList = [];
 
@@ -10,8 +11,8 @@ function normalize(o) {
 }
 
 function applyBlacklist(o) {
-  const titleNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
-  const descNotBlacklisted = !utils.isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
+  const titleNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.title, appliedBlackList);
+  const descNotBlacklisted = !isOneOf(o.description, appliedBlackList);
   return o.id != null && titleNotBlacklisted && descNotBlacklisted;
 }
 
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ const config = {
   },
   normalize: normalize,
   filter: applyBlacklist,
+  activeTester: checkIfListingIsActive,
 };
 export const init = (sourceConfig, blacklist) => {
   config.enabled = sourceConfig.enabled;
diff --git a/lib/services/demoCleanup.js b/lib/services/crons/demoCleanup-cron.js
similarity index 72%
rename from lib/services/demoCleanup.js
rename to lib/services/crons/demoCleanup-cron.js
index b21d383..79b5752 100644
--- a/lib/services/demoCleanup.js
+++ b/lib/services/crons/demoCleanup-cron.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-import { removeJobsByUserId } from './storage/jobStorage.js';
-import { config } from '../utils.js';
-import { getUsers } from './storage/userStorage.js';
-import logger from './logger.js';
+import { removeJobsByUserId } from '../storage/jobStorage.js';
+import { config } from '../../utils.js';
+import { getUsers } from '../storage/userStorage.js';
+import logger from '../logger.js';
 import cron from 'node-cron';
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/services/crons/listing-alive-cron.js b/lib/services/crons/listing-alive-cron.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60dd5d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/services/crons/listing-alive-cron.js
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import cron from 'node-cron';
+import runActiveChecker from '../listings/listingActiveService.js';
+
+async function runTask() {
+  await runActiveChecker();
+}
+
+export async function initActiveCheckerCron() {
+  //run directly on start
+  await runTask();
+  // then every day at 1 am
+  cron.schedule('0 1 * * *', runTask);
+}
diff --git a/lib/services/tracking/Tracker-Cron.js b/lib/services/crons/tracker-cron.js
similarity index 88%
rename from lib/services/tracking/Tracker-Cron.js
rename to lib/services/crons/tracker-cron.js
index 9b89438..7cfe8cc 100644
--- a/lib/services/tracking/Tracker-Cron.js
+++ b/lib/services/crons/tracker-cron.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import cron from 'node-cron';
 import { config, inDevMode } from '../../utils.js';
-import { trackMainEvent } from './Tracker.js';
+import { trackMainEvent } from '../tracking/Tracker.js';
 
 async function runTask() {
   //make sure to only send tracking events if the user gave us the green light and we are not in dev mode
diff --git a/lib/services/immoscout/immoscout-web-translator.js b/lib/services/immoscout/immoscout-web-translator.js
index 18a21e0..ec28957 100644
--- a/lib/services/immoscout/immoscout-web-translator.js
+++ b/lib/services/immoscout/immoscout-web-translator.js
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ https://api.mobile.immobilienscout24.de/search/map/v3?publishedafter=2025-05-14T
  https://api.mobile.immobilienscout24.de/search/map/v3?features=disableNHBGrouping,nextGen,fairPrice,listingsInListFirstSummary,xxlListingType,contactDetails&publishedafter=2025-05-14T09:19:43&sorting=standard&pagesize=300&searchType=shape&realEstateType=housebuy&pagenumber=1&shape=%7D%7BjwHy%7Cqh@jCKdCgAvB_BdB%7DBzAaCjAqCfAqC~@uCt@iCh@eCZkCLyC?_EO%7DEa@%7DEa@iE_@%7BD%5DaDe@gDi@gDo@uCu@kBcB_AeDOiE?iDCgCMuBOkDCkG?yFRgD%60@cB%5C%7BA%60@eBx@aB%7C@kAbAy@rAe@bBUxCAhE?dFh@fGlAzGbBbHlBxGdB%60FrAhDz@xBh@nAf@l@RNNXkCkMJR~B%7CEnCpErCnDtClCvC~ApCh@rCJpC?
  */
 import queryString from 'query-string';
+import { nullOrEmpty } from '../../utils.js';
 
 const PARAM_NAME_MAP = {
   heatingtypes: 'heatingtypes',
@@ -193,3 +194,14 @@ export function convertWebToMobile(webUrl) {
 
   return `https://api.mobile.immobilienscout24.de/search/list?${mobileQuery}`;
 }
+
+export function convertImmoscoutListingToMobileListing(url) {
+  if (nullOrEmpty(url)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  return url.replace(
+    /^https:\/\/www\.immobilienscout24\.de\/expose\//,
+    'https://api.mobile.immobilienscout24.de/expose/',
+  );
+}
diff --git a/lib/services/listings/listingActiveService.js b/lib/services/listings/listingActiveService.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3dd162d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/services/listings/listingActiveService.js
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+import { deactivateListings, getActiveOrUnknownListings } from '../storage/listingsStorage.js';
+import { getProviders } from '../../utils.js';
+import logger from '../../services/logger.js';
+
+/**
+ * Runs the active-listing checker:
+ * 1) Loads all listings with unknown or active status.
+ * 2) Resolves each listing's provider and calls its `activeTester(link)`.
+ * 3) Collects listings that are no longer active and deactivates them in one batch.
+ *
+ * Concurrency: network-bound checks are executed with a configurable concurrency limit.
+ *
+ * @param {object} [opts]
+ * @param {number} [opts.concurrency=8] Max number of parallel activeTester calls.
+ * @returns {Promise<void>}
+ */
+export default async function runActiveChecker(opts = {}) {
+  const { concurrency = 4 } = opts;
+
+  const listings = getActiveOrUnknownListings();
+  if (!Array.isArray(listings) || listings.length === 0) {
+    logger.debug('No listings to check.');
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const providers = await getProviders();
+  if (!Array.isArray(providers) || providers.length === 0) {
+    logger.warn('No providers available. Skipping active checks.');
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // Build a map for O(1) provider lookup by id
+  /** @type {Record<string, any>} */
+  const providerById = Object.create(null);
+  for (const p of providers) {
+    const id = p?.metaInformation?.id;
+    if (id) providerById[id] = p;
+  }
+
+  // Small generic mapLimit to cap concurrency without extra deps
+  /**
+   * @template T, R
+   * @param {T[]} items
+   * @param {number} limit
+   * @param {(item: T, index: number) => Promise<R>} worker
+   * @returns {Promise<R[]>}
+   */
+  async function mapLimit(items, limit, worker) {
+    const results = new Array(items.length);
+    let next = 0;
+
+    async function runOne() {
+      while (next < items.length) {
+        const i = next++;
+        try {
+          results[i] = await worker(items[i], i);
+        } catch (err) {
+          results[i] = /** @type {any} */ (err);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    const runners = Array.from({ length: Math.min(limit, items.length) }, runOne);
+    await Promise.all(runners);
+    return results;
+  }
+
+  /** @type {string[]} */
+  const listingsSetToInactive = [];
+
+  await mapLimit(listings, concurrency, async (listing) => {
+    const { provider: listingProviderId, link, id } = listing || {};
+
+    const matchedProvider = providerById[listingProviderId];
+    if (!matchedProvider) {
+      logger.warn('Could not find matching provider for', listingProviderId);
+      return;
+    }
+    const tester = matchedProvider?.config?.activeTester;
+    if (typeof tester !== 'function') {
+      logger.warn('No activeTester configured for', listingProviderId);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    // Contract: activeTester(link) returns 1 if active, 0 if inactive
+    let result;
+    try {
+      result = await tester(link);
+    } catch (err) {
+      logger.warn('activeTester failed for', listingProviderId, link, err);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (result === 0 && id) {
+      listingsSetToInactive.push(id);
+    }
+  });
+
+  if (listingsSetToInactive.length > 0) {
+    logger.info(`Setting ${listingsSetToInactive.length} listings to inactive.`);
+    deactivateListings(listingsSetToInactive);
+  } else {
+    logger.debug('No listings need to be set inactive.');
+  }
+}
diff --git a/lib/services/listings/listingActiveTester.js b/lib/services/listings/listingActiveTester.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..148c925
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/services/listings/listingActiveTester.js
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+import fetch from 'node-fetch';
+import { randomBetween, sleep } from '../../utils.js';
+
+const maxAttempts = 3;
+
+/**
+ * Check if a listing is still active with up to 3 attempts and exponential backoff.
+ * Backoff waits are capped and the last wait is at most 2000 ms.
+ *
+ * Rules:
+ * - HTTP 200 => return 1
+ * - HTTP 401/403 => return -1 (most certainly detected as a bot)
+ * - HTTP 404 => return 0
+ * - Other statuses or network errors => retry until attempts are exhausted
+ *
+ * @returns {Promise<Integer>} 1 if active, o if not active and -1 if detected as bot
+ */
+export default async function checkIfListingIsActive(link) {
+  await sleep(randomBetween(50, 100));
+
+  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxAttempts; attempt++) {
+    try {
+      const res = await fetch(link, {
+        headers: {
+          'User-Agent':
+            'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36',
+          'Accept-Language': 'de-DE,de;q=0.9,en;q=0.8',
+        },
+      });
+
+      if (res.status === 200) {
+        return 1;
+      }
+      if (res.status === 401) return -1;
+      if (res.status === 403) return -1;
+      if (res.status === 404) return 0;
+
+      // For any other status, only retry if attempts remain
+      if (attempt < maxAttempts) {
+        await sleep(backoffDelay(attempt));
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      return 0;
+    } catch {
+      // Network error: retry if attempts remain
+      if (attempt < maxAttempts) {
+        await sleep(backoffDelay(attempt));
+        continue;
+      }
+      return 0;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Exponential backoff delay with cap.
+ * attempt: 1 -> 500ms, 2 -> 1000ms, 3 -> 2000ms (cap)
+ * @param {number} attempt 1-based attempt index
+ * @returns {number} delay in ms
+ */
+function backoffDelay(attempt) {
+  const base = 500;
+  const cap = 2000;
+  return Math.min(base * 2 ** (attempt - 1), cap);
+}
diff --git a/lib/services/storage/listingsStorage.js b/lib/services/storage/listingsStorage.js
index d1b0075..082767b 100755
--- a/lib/services/storage/listingsStorage.js
+++ b/lib/services/storage/listingsStorage.js
@@ -53,6 +53,36 @@ export const getKnownListingHashesForJobAndProvider = (jobId, providerId) => {
   ).map((r) => r.hash);
 };
 
+/**
+ * Return a list of listing that either are active or have an unknown status
+ * to constantly check if they are still online
+ *
+ * @returns {string[]} Array of listings
+ */
+export const getActiveOrUnknownListings = () => {
+  return SqliteConnection.query(
+    `SELECT *
+     FROM listings
+     WHERE is_active is null OR is_active = 1 ORDER BY provider`,
+  );
+};
+
+/**
+ * Deactivates listings by setting is_active = 0 for all matching IDs.
+ *
+ * @param {string[]} ids - Array of listing IDs to deactivate.
+ * @returns {object[]} Result of the SQLite query execution.
+ */
+export const deactivateListings = (ids) => {
+  const placeholders = ids.map(() => '?').join(',');
+  return SqliteConnection.execute(
+    `UPDATE listings
+     SET is_active = 0
+     WHERE id IN (${placeholders})`,
+    ids,
+  );
+};
+
 /**
  * Persist a batch of scraped listings for a given job and provider.
  *
@@ -86,9 +116,9 @@ export const storeListings = (jobId, providerId, listings) => {
   SqliteConnection.withTransaction((db) => {
     const stmt = db.prepare(
       `INSERT INTO listings (id, hash, provider, job_id, price, size, title, image_url, description, address,
-                             link, created_at)
+                             link, created_at, is_active)
        VALUES (@id, @hash, @provider, @job_id, @price, @size, @title, @image_url, @description, @address, @link,
-               @created_at)
+               @created_at, 1)
        ON CONFLICT(job_id, hash) DO NOTHING`,
     );
 
diff --git a/lib/services/storage/migrations/sql/2.active-flag-for-listings.js b/lib/services/storage/migrations/sql/2.active-flag-for-listings.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..521c467
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/services/storage/migrations/sql/2.active-flag-for-listings.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+// Migration: there needs to be a unique index on job_id and hash as only
+// this makes the listing indeed unique
+
+export function up(db) {
+  db.exec(`
+    ALTER TABLE listings ADD COLUMN is_active INTEGER DEFAULT 1;
+  `);
+}
diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index d752339..7f9c3bd 100755
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { dirname } from 'node:path';
-import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 import { readFile } from 'fs/promises';
 import { createHash } from 'crypto';
 import { DEFAULT_CONFIG } from './defaultConfig.js';
@@ -11,6 +12,26 @@ const RE_GT = />/g;
 const RE_WEBP = /\/format\/webp/gi;
 const RE_EXT = /\.(jpe?g|png|gif)(\?.*)?$/i;
 const HTTPS_PREFIX = 'https://';
+const providersDirectoryPath = `${getDirName()}/provider`;
+
+/**
+ * Lazily load all provider modules from the provider directory.
+ * Caches the resolved array to avoid re-importing on subsequent calls.
+ *
+ * @returns {Promise<any[]>} A list of loaded provider modules.
+ */
+let cachedProvidersPromise = null;
+
+export function getProviders() {
+  if (!cachedProvidersPromise) {
+    /** @type {string[]} */
+    const providerFileNames = fs.readdirSync(providersDirectoryPath).filter((fileName) => fileName.endsWith('.js'));
+    cachedProvidersPromise = Promise.all(
+      providerFileNames.map((fileName) => import(pathToFileURL(path.join(providersDirectoryPath, fileName)).href)),
+    );
+  }
+  return cachedProvidersPromise;
+}
 
 /**
  * Safely stringify a value to JSON for storage.
@@ -21,7 +42,7 @@ const HTTPS_PREFIX = 'https://';
  * @param {T} v - Any JSON-serializable value.
  * @returns {string|null} JSON string or null.
  */
-export const toJson = (v) => (v == null ? null : JSON.stringify(v));
+const toJson = (v) => (v == null ? null : JSON.stringify(v));
 
 /**
  * Safely parse JSON text coming from storage.
@@ -33,7 +54,7 @@ export const toJson = (v) => (v == null ? null : JSON.stringify(v));
  * @param {T} fallback - Value to return when txt is null/invalid.
  * @returns {T} Parsed value or fallback.
  */
-export const fromJson = (txt, fallback) => {
+const fromJson = (txt, fallback) => {
   if (txt == null) return fallback;
   try {
     return JSON.parse(txt);
@@ -213,23 +234,40 @@ async function getPackageVersion() {
   return 'N/A';
 }
 
+/**
+ * Sleep helper
+ * @param {number} ms milliseconds to wait
+ * @returns {Promise<void>}
+ */
+function sleep(ms) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+}
+
+/**
+ * returns a random into between start and end
+ * @param a start int
+ * @param b max int
+ * @returns {*}
+ */
+function randomBetween(a, b) {
+  return Math.floor(Math.random() * (b - a + 1)) + a;
+}
+
+// Call refreshConfig() from the application entrypoint during startup to populate config.
 await refreshConfig();
 
-export { isOneOf };
-export { normalizeImageUrl };
-export { inDevMode };
-export { nullOrEmpty };
-export { duringWorkingHoursOrNotSet };
-export { getDirName };
-export { config };
-export { buildHash };
-export { getPackageVersion };
-export default {
+export {
   isOneOf,
+  normalizeImageUrl,
+  inDevMode,
   nullOrEmpty,
   duringWorkingHoursOrNotSet,
   getDirName,
+  sleep,
+  randomBetween,
   config,
+  buildHash,
+  getPackageVersion,
   toJson,
   fromJson,
 };