diff --git a/.env b/.env
index 063eceb..970177f 100644
--- a/.env
+++ b/.env
@@ -1 +1 @@
-CRAWL_INTERVAL=10
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+CRAWL_INTERVAL=5
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diff --git a/config/history_config.yaml b/config/history_config.yaml
index d9a9012..cfb52a3 100644
--- a/config/history_config.yaml
+++ b/config/history_config.yaml
@@ -3,15 +3,14 @@ excluded_domains:
   - "identity.getpostman.com"
   - "localhost"
   - "127.0.0.1"
-  - "*.namecheap.com*"
-  - "us.ovhcloud.com*"
-  - "*.linode.com*"
-  - "github.com/settings/*"
-  - "*.secure.backblaze.com*"
-  - "*.login.*"
-  - "*.identity.*"
-  - "*.auth.*"
-  - "192.168.*.*"
-  - "10.*.*.*"
-  - "172.16.*.*"
-  - "0.0.0.*"
+  - "namecheap.com"
+  - "us.ovhcloud.com"
+  - "linode.com"
+  - "github.com/settings/"
+  - "secure.backblaze.com"
+  - "login."
+  - "identity."
+  - ".auth."
+  - "192.168."
+  - "172.16."
+  - "0.0.0."
diff --git a/src/domain_exclusions.py b/src/domain_exclusions.py
index 20e7490..d223986 100644
--- a/src/domain_exclusions.py
+++ b/src/domain_exclusions.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import yaml
 from fnmatch import fnmatch
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 class DomainExclusions:
     def __init__(self, config_path="config/history_config.yaml"):
@@ -14,42 +15,43 @@ class DomainExclusions:
 
             # Handle both direct list and dict with 'excluded_domains' key
             if isinstance(config, list):
-                self.excluded_domains = config
+                loaded_patterns = config
+            elif isinstance(config, dict):
+                loaded_patterns = config.get('excluded_domains', [])
             else:
-                self.excluded_domains = config.get('excluded_domains', [])
+                loaded_patterns = [] # Handle other invalid config types
+
+            # Basic validation/cleaning of patterns
+            self.excluded_domains = [
+                str(p).strip() for p in loaded_patterns if p and isinstance(p, str)
+            ]
+            # Optional: Warn if some patterns were ignored
+            # if len(self.excluded_domains) != len(loaded_patterns):
+            #      print(f"Warning: Some invalid patterns were ignored in {config_path}")
+
         except FileNotFoundError:
             print(f"Warning: Configuration file {config_path} not found. No domains will be excluded.")
+            self.excluded_domains = [] # Ensure it's empty on error
         except yaml.YAMLError as e:
             print(f"Error parsing YAML configuration: {e}")
             self.excluded_domains = []
+        except Exception as e: # Catch other potential errors
+            print(f"An unexpected error occurred during config loading: {e}")
+            self.excluded_domains = []
 
-    def is_excluded(self, domain):
-        """
-        Check if a domain matches any of the excluded domain patterns.
-        """
-        # Strip protocol (http:// or https://) if present
-        domain = domain.lower().strip('/')
-        if '://' in domain:
-            domain = domain.split('://', 1)[1]
+    def is_excluded(self, url_string):
+        if not url_string or not isinstance(url_string, str):
+            return True
 
-        # Strip query parameters if present
-        if '?' in domain:
-            domain = domain.split('?', 1)[0]
+        input_url = url_string.strip()
 
-        # Split domain and path
-        if '/' in domain:
-            domain = domain.split('/', 1)[0]
+        # If the url starts with www, remove it
+        if input_url.startswith('www.'):
+            input_url = input_url[4:]
 
         for pattern in self.excluded_domains:
-            pattern = pattern.lower().strip('/')
-            if '/' in pattern:
-                pattern = pattern.split('/', 1)[0]
-
-            # Remove trailing wildcard if present
-            if pattern.endswith('*'):
-                pattern = pattern.rstrip('*').rstrip('.')
-
-            # Use fnmatch for proper wildcard pattern matching
-            if fnmatch(domain, pattern):
+            if pattern in input_url:
                 return True
+
+        # If no patterns matched
         return False
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