Since the launch of the Penguin algorithm in April 2012, Google has penalized sites with too many artificial backlinks. And some experts use this rule to degrade the natural referencing of a competing site in the SERPs. This unethical technique gives rise to many controversies, in particular the question of the relevance of the disavowal of links tool on the search engine.

Growth of negative SEO since the arrival of the Penguin algorithm

If working to improve the visibility of a site on the search engines is a constant challenge for SEO specialists, some seek to bring down those of competitors. Knowing that with its Penguin filter, Google identifies sites pointed by backlinks of poor quality, but in large quantities, and downgrades them; the negative SEO has boomed.

In order for the engine to devalue the sites they want to get rid of, unscrupulous SEOs “bombard” them with thousands of broken links or spam. Over time, techniques aimed at weakening the natural referencing of others have been added and perfected:

  • creation of fake profiles on social networks to destroy e-reputation,
  • duplication and dissemination of original content on the Internet so that it is classified as spam, etc.

An effective technique that affects sites differently

Many are talking about a myth, pointing out that Google’s algorithm no longer accounts for low-quality backlinks.

However, a few years ago, the Texas company Tasty Placement passed an NSEO test, which is shared with the explanatory infographic on the Internet. For two weeks, it bombed a 3-website on request “pool cleaning Houston” of tens of thousands of bad links from forums, blogs, banners …
Very quickly, the company has managed to tumble the site the results of the engine, until it disappears from the first page in less than a month. And for this operation, they spent only 45 dollars. And they are not the only ones to have had this type of experience.

It should be noted, however, that not all sites are equally vulnerable to such an attack. The sites with certain seniority, whose notoriety is already well-established thanks to many quality backlinks, and which benefit from the confidence of Google as being a reliable source of information, are much more complex to “spam” than a recent and still little known site.

The backlink disavowal tool, for or against?

Solutions exist to guard against Negative SEO  :

  • Configure alerts;
  • Monitor mentions on social networks;
  • Follow his backlinks;
  • Protect your content from plagiarism.

Another alternative is to use Google’s link disavowal tool. The subject is controversial, with some experts arguing that it is up to Google alone to ignore links that do not meet its quality criteria. Others, on the other hand, believe that it remains necessary for website owners to signal the engine to ignore certain inbound links when evaluating the site.

Be careful, this tool should be handled with care, because the risk is to reject backlinks that Google considers good and thus severely affect the ranking of the site. For those who do not have a good grasp of its operation, or want to play the card of caution to avoid a potentially fatal error for the visibility of their site, it is in their interest to seek the support of net linking experts.

As for those who allow themselves to be tempted by the prospect of harming a competitor, they have an interest in protecting their identity, because the practice is illegal and violators can pay dearly if their misdeeds leave traces.

If you need an SEO agency, check out OMT.