Most sites should not disavow. Google says use the tool only for spammy links that caused, or may cause, a manual action. The rules and the file format.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·7 min read
Most sites should not disavow any links. Google says "most sites will not need to use this tool," and that you should disavow only when you have a considerable number of spammy, artificial or low-quality links pointing at your site and those links have caused, or likely will cause, a manual action.
"Toxic backlinks" is a label from third-party SEO tools, not a Google term. Google talks about link spam and unnatural links, and its systems are built to ignore most of them without your help. Below is what Google says about when the disavow tool is needed, how to respond to a real links penalty, and the exact file format when you do need it.
What are toxic backlinks?
A "toxic backlink" is a link that a third-party tool's model flags as risky, usually because the linking site resembles spam sites or the link looks bought. Google uses no such score. Its terms are link spam, meaning links created "primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings," and unnatural links, which is the name of the manual action.
Each tool builds its own model on its own crawl, so the same link can be "toxic" in one tool and fine in another. Moz is candid about its version: a high Spam Score "doesn't mean this site is necessarily spammy," and it is "based on correlation with penalization rather than causation." Spam Score explained covers what that one number measures.
The link patterns Google itself names as spam are more useful than any tool score:
Buying or selling links for ranking, including "exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links."
"Excessive link exchanges" and partner pages that exist only to cross-link.
"Using automated programs or services to create links to your site."
Advertorials and guest posts with links that pass ranking credit or carry "optimized anchor text."
"Low-quality directory or bookmark site links" and "forum comments with optimized links."
If a link on your profile fits one of those and you had a hand in it, it matters. A scraper site that copied your page is the kind of link Google says it can assess on its own "in most cases."
Does Google penalise you for spammy backlinks?
Questions, answered
What people ask about this
01
Should I disavow toxic backlinks?
Usually not. Google says most sites will not need the disavow tool, and that you should use it only when you have a considerable number of spammy, artificial or low-quality links and they have caused, or likely will cause, a manual action.
Not for links other people pointed at you, as a rule. Google says it "works very hard to make sure that actions on third-party sites do not negatively affect a website," and that "in most cases, Google can assess which links to trust without additional guidance." Its link spam systems aim to cancel the effect of unnatural links.
Google's December 2022 link spam update describes how. SpamBrain, its AI-based spam-prevention system, "can now detect both sites buying links, and sites used for the purpose of passing outgoing links," and Google's "algorithms and manual actions aim to nullify these unnatural links at scale." Its spam-updates page states the consequence: when the systems remove the effect of spammy links, "any ranking benefit the links may have previously generated for your site is lost."
That points to the real risk. Google says that "in some circumstances, incoming links can affect Google's opinion of a page or site," and the example it gives is links that "you or an SEO that you've hired" built through paid links or other link schemes. Those can lead to the "Unnatural links to your site" manual action, which Google says "can result in some or all of your site getting a manual action."
When should you use the disavow tool?
Use it in two situations: you have an "Unnatural links to your site" manual action, or you know you bought links or ran a link scheme that you can't get removed and a manual action is likely. In every other case, leave the tool alone, because Google warns it "can potentially harm your site's performance" if used incorrectly.
Your situation
Disavow?
Why
Manual Actions report shows "Unnatural links to your site"
Yes, after trying to remove the links
Google's recommended steps end with disavowing what you couldn't get removed
You or an SEO bought links, and the sellers won't remove them
Yes, those links
This is the "about to get such a manual action" case Google describes
A tool flags dozens of "toxic" links from scraper and junk sites you never dealt with
No
Google can assess which links to trust without help
A few links from sites with a high Spam Score
No
Moz says to check content and relevance first; the score alone is not a reason
Traffic dropped and you suspect links, with no manual action
No, investigate first
A disavow won't fix a cause that isn't links
You run a Domain property in Search Console
Not possible there
Google says the disavow tool does not support Domain properties
Before any of this, check the Manual Actions report in Search Console. If it says no issues were detected, you have no links penalty to lift.
How do you respond to an unnatural links manual action?
Remove what you can, disavow what you can't, document both, then request a review. Google's recommended steps for the "Unnatural links to your site" action are specific, and it warns that "simply disavowing all backlinks without attempting to remove them might lead to rejection of your request."
Read Google's link spam policy so you know what counts.
Download your links from Search Console, either by host (Top linking sites, then Export) or by date (Links report, then Export external links, then Latest links).
Check the list for links that break the policy. If it is long, start with the sites that link to you most, and with links created in the last few months.
Contact each site owner and ask them to remove the link or to stop it passing PageRank with rel="nofollow" or a more specific attribute.
Disavow the links you could not get removed. Use domain: for many links from one site, and don't disavow organic links.
Select Request Review in the Manual Actions report, with documentation of the links you removed and an explanation of the ones you couldn't.
Watch for review messages in Search Console. Google revokes the action once it finds the site no longer in violation.
What is the disavow file format?
A disavow file is a plain text file, UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII, with a name ending in .txt. It lists one URL or one domain per line. Put domain: in front of a domain to disavow every link from it, and start a line with # for a comment Google ignores.
Google's limits and rules:
One URL or domain per line. You cannot disavow a subpath such as example.com/en/.
Domains and subdomains take the domain: prefix, for example domain:example.com.
The maximum URL length is 2,048 characters.
The maximum file size is 100,000 lines, counting blank and comment lines, and 2MB.
A file in that format looks like this:
# Paid links from a 2025 campaign; sellers did not respond to removal requests
domain:paid-links.example
domain:article-network.example
# One page, owner unreachable
https://blog.example/2025/03/sponsored-roundup.html
Uploading follows its own rules. You can post one list per property, and uploading a new list replaces the old one. You must be a property owner. The list applies to that property and its child properties, so if you have separate http and https properties, upload to each. Google says it "can take a few weeks" for a list to take effect, and disavowed links keep appearing in the Links report. To undo everything, select the property on the disavow tool page and click Cancel Disavowals.
How do you review your links with evidence before acting?
Judge each link from the page it sits on, never from a score. Open the linking page, find your link, and record what you see: whether the page is real and relevant, where the link sits, its anchor text, and whether it looks paid. Only links you can show are unnatural belong on a removal or disavow list.
Record five facts for every link you consider:
The linking URL, and whether it still loads and still links to you.
What the page is about, and whether a reader interested in your product would ever see it.
Where the link sits: in the body text, a sidebar, a footer or a comment.
The anchor text. Your name or URL is ordinary; a commercial keyword you never chose is a flag.
Any sign it was paid: a price list, a "sponsored post" label with a followed link, or a network of near-identical sites.
LaunchScaler's full audit reads your link profile from a live link index and runs twenty backlink checks, including the aggregate Spam Score of your linking domains, paid links missing rel="sponsored", over-represented exact-match commercial anchors, site-wide footer links and unexplained spikes in new links. Each finding opens to the backlink data behind it and the exact fix, so you review real linking pages instead of a label. The free scan doesn't include backlinks: run it first, then open the full audit from your report for $19, one time, for that domain. Run the free scan first, then open the full audit.
Google says it works hard to make sure actions on third-party sites do not hurt a website, and its link spam systems aim to nullify unnatural links. The exception is a pattern of links you or an SEO built, which can lead to an 'Unnatural links to your site' manual action.
03
What is the format of a disavow file?
A UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII text file ending in .txt, with one URL or one domain per line. Prefix whole domains with 'domain:', start comments with '#', and stay under 100,000 lines and 2MB.
04
How long does a disavow take to work?
Google says it can take a few weeks for a disavow list to be incorporated, because Google has to recrawl the web and reprocess the pages it sees. Disavowed links still appear in Search Console's Links report.
05
Can disavowing hurt my site?
Yes. Google calls it an advanced feature that can potentially harm your site's performance in Search if used incorrectly, for example by disavowing ordinary links that were helping you.
UTM parameters are five tags that tell GA4 where a visit came from. A copyable naming scheme, a fixed medium list and examples for launches and paid slots.
