Spam Backlinks
Spam backlinks are really just backlinks that people are afraid of, don’t like, don’t recognize, think that Google will punish them for or just look out of plae.
A really bad culture of disavowing Spam Backlinks has grown out of the fear of reprimand created by Googles crackdown in 2011-13 and the ripple effects of that on the SEO community.
But Spam Backlinks (aka Spammy looking backlinks) are not “Link Spam” (Google’s own definition). And there’s no need to disavow them.
Link Spam vs Spammy “looking” links
Link Spam is the name given by the Google Search Quality team to the process of acquiring backlinks through financial or other means of exchange that violates the Google Policy Guide. However, there are lots and lots of backlinks that SEOs don’t recognize, especially when taking on new projects that cause them to think that sites have been either buying backlinks or are the subject of a negative SEO attack. This scenario is incredibly rare – the fear of it though seems to drive SEOs into a frenzied panic. Even though Google (haphazardly) says that it ignores low-quality and spammy-looking backlinks, SEOs cannot reconcile paid-for backlinks and unrecognized backlinks.
You can find all of the penalizable activities in the official Google Spam Policy guide for SEO.
How to find toxic backlinks
SEMrush has long published a report, meant to detect links that “can be bad for you” but this report is not accurate, not useful and presents a weird problem: that backlinks can have a negative value. Backlinks either cause a penalty (which can be localized v sitewide) but do not carry a value below 0.
Most link farms, link spam actually just carry a 0 value – hence the saying “zero’d” in common SEO parlance (e.g. “Google Zero’d those backlinks bro”).
The rise of spammy-looking Backlinks
Through broken CDNs, scraper sites, and attempts at buying backlinks, people scraping content for links farms, and broken directories, there exist domains with lots and lots of noise and mentions of domains that look like spam backlinks. It’s impossible to quantify or understand how these get created, why, or the causes but Google is emphatic about ignoring Spammy-looking backlinks.
Link Spam is not the same as Spammy Looking Backlinks
If you’re going to be successful in manipulating search, then you need quality domains – the
“Link Spam” is the name of the Google policy against buying or building backlinks via financial or other gain with the view of manipulating search. I know – these names aren’t ideal – its “Tax evasion vs Tax Avoidance” (which is the best metaphor I have – given that tax evasion is illegal, tax avoidance isn’t. The same as Link Spam and Spammy backlinks)
Spammy backlinks in volume from low-quality sites are not “Link Spam” by any means of the definition
Link Spam looks like Natural Links
You aren’t going to recognize Link Spam. Sites with thousands of backlinking domains hide link spam – because they look like good links. Whenever I ask people who get penalized about link spam – they go “oh, those are good links that I got naturally”. Our brains cannot scan hundreds of thousands of domains and identify link spam – we can only see links we don’t understand
Having Low-DA backlinks IS normal
This happens – if you have a log of links in Reddit for example, then after a few months you’ll have 50-100 domains of scrapers, mirrors, and broken CDNs linking to you – just from Reddit as one example. Another are social media links that have been scraped, news and directory sites, past domain behavior and yes, maybe attempts at buying sites and from broken link farms or PBNs.
Google doesn’t care about Spammy Looking backlinks
Google doesn’t care about low-value domains and what they link to – neither should you.
The futility and FUD of backlink “toxicity scores”
Let’s be clear: There is no such thing as a toxicity score – this is “FUD” or a scaremongering technique of spreading “fear, uncertainty and doubt” – and is practiced by the 3 major backlink analysis tools. Here a great article by SE Roundtable quoting Google’s John Mueller on rubbishing the idea of toxic links.
Do not Disavow Toxic Backlinks
Google is also adamant that users SHOULD not disavow Toxic Backlinks – doubling down on the idea recently. They’ve also confirmed in 2024 that disavowing will not get your rankings back.
To be honest, anyone who does not know, should *not* use it. That’s why the tool is not a part of the search console UI. That’s why our messaging has been consistently to not use it unless you know there’s an actual issue. To paraphrase: When in doubt, leave disavow out
Source: SE Rountable – Google Double Downs On Not Using Link Disavow Files In A Bigger Way
Reporting Backlinks and Google Actions
If Google thinks a site is involved in link spam – it will take action. There is no % or scale or tipping point. Here’s Google’s Office Hours speaking about it in greater detail:
