In a Webmaster Hangout, Google’s John Mueller addressed a question from a web publisher concerned about a potential negative SEO attack. The publisher wondered if he should wait for a manual action from Google before taking any steps.
Here is the question:
"My website is getting hundreds of links that seem to be spammy. I suspect that maybe one of my competitors is trying to decrease my rankings. Do I need to keep disavowing these links week after week? Or should I only be concerned if I receive an unnatural links manual action?"
John Mueller emphasized that Google’s algorithm is already designed to ignore spammy links:
"In general we do automatically take these into account, and we try to… ignore them automatically when we see them happening. For the most part, I suspect that works fairly well. I see very few people with actual issues around that. So I think that’s mostly working well."
Mueller suggested that these are probably normal spam links, which are a common occurrence. This behavior has been present for as long as the internet has existed. Often, spammers link to high-ranking sites, mistakenly believing it establishes them as authorities and masks their spammy links, which does not work. The outdated SEO myth that linking to a high-ranked site will enhance one’s own site ranking has long been debunked.
Here’s what John Mueller said:
"With regard to disavowing these links, I suspect if these are just normal spammy links that are just popping up for your website, then I wouldn’t worry about them too much. Probably we figured that out on our own."
Use the Disavow Tool if You’re Worried
Mueller recommended the use of the disavow tool if there are significant concerns:
"If you’re worried about them, regardless if it’s something that you’re not sure about, you’re losing sleep over these links and you just want to make sure that Google handles them properly, then using the disavow tool is perfectly fine. The disavow tool is not an admission of guilt or anything like that. You’re just telling our systems these links should not be considered for my website. There are multiple reasons why you might not want links to be considered."
This means the statement, "That’s not something our algorithms would try to judge for your website," should be viewed with the understanding that Google usually already filters out spammy links.
Mueller continued:
"So if you’re seeing spammy links from certain sites, using the domain directive makes it easy to handle these in the disavow file and you can just submit those there."
Google Can Handle Normal Spammy Links
Mueller reiterated that Google can manage normal spammy links:
"On the other hand, if you feel that these links are pretty normal spammy and something that any algorithm would figure out, then you can just leave them alone and move on."
Disavow Tool Only for Extreme Cases
John Mueller concluded by saying that the disavow tool is intended for extreme situations only and should not be commonly used:
"I think for most websites, the vast majority of websites, you don’t need to use the disavow tool. That’s why we have the disavow tool so separate from search console so that you don’t get tempted to use the disavow tool because it looks like a normal part of search console that everyone should be using. It’s really something that you only need in really extreme cases."
Google Focuses on Positive Signals
Google has been ignoring certain links since its inception to eliminate irrelevant noise and focus on pure, impactful signals. For instance, Google ignores "powered by" links in a footer and treats a sitewide link as a single link, reflecting its approach to filtering out irrelevant links to focus on signals that matter.
Regarding negative SEO and spammy links, Google’s algorithm ignores links from non-relevant neighborhoods. If a site has strong quality signals, great content, and positive user feedback, it can rank well without spammy links. Ignoring spammy links and focusing on a site’s positive attributes aligns with Google’s approach. When understood this way, Google’s advice to ignore spammy links, including those from adult sites, is reasonable.
For more information on negative SEO, consider reading relevant articles on the topic.
