Published:
Updated:
by Wayne Smith
Over a decade ago, uploading a disavow file to Google was considered a best practice. But much has changed in SEO since then—especially in how Google evaluates link quality and interprets link text to associate pages with keywords.
Search engines have long relied on the collective data of the internet—essentially crowdsourcing—to build and refine their search indices. However, with significant algorithmic advancements, the need for manual inputs like meta tags and disavow files has diminished for most websites.
When Google introduced the disavow tool, its algorithms were still evolving in their ability to detect spammy or low-quality sites and backlinks. At that time, manually disavowing links helped webmasters avoid penalties associated with manipulative link-building practices.
Today, Google’s systems are far more sophisticated and often ignore harmful or irrelevant links automatically. As a result, Google no longer recommends using a disavow file in most cases.
Disavowing Bad Neighborhoods
One of Google’s ongoing challenges has been dealing with link farms and sites that automatically scrape content. These low-quality or spammy websites were often prime candidates for disavowal.
Now, search engines use crowdsourced link graphs and behavioral signals to identify these "bad neighborhoods" without relying on manual disavow submissions. Such pages are typically easy to detect—they often feature scraped content, lack originality, show poor user engagement, and rarely earn backlinks from independent or authoritative sites.
Google even holds a patent for identifying networks of associated pages that webmasters use to place links shortly after publishing content — recent Patent 11,991,262.
In short, search engines no longer require a disavow file to recognize and disregard these low-value links. In many cases, such links are algorithmically devalued before the webmaster even discovers them.
SEO Anchor Text
The text in a hyperlink is considered a keyword for the target page; However, the text is qualified against the content on the page. Link Bombs were a negative SEO practice in the past. Recent information released by Google to the DOJ indicates this signal is still in use today.
As reported by Search Engine Land 05-13-25: New DOJ exhibits reveal insights into how Google Search ranks content, Navboost, RankEmbed, and LLMs reshaping the future of search.
Keyword Dilution and Negative SEO
Keyword dilution refers to the weakening of a page's relevance for its target keyword due to signals suggesting relevance to unrelated terms. While external links don’t directly define a page’s keywords, they can influence how search engines interpret the page’s topic.
Google’s relevance algorithms are kept confidential -- not only to prevent manipulation of search results. They are confidential because the size and complexity of the relevance dataset for any given keyword impact the cost and speed of generating a results page. And, Google does not want competitors taking their IP.
Testing shows that simply including a keyword once on a page is not sufficient to establish relevance in search results.
Keyword Density Relevance Signal
Frequency, context, and supporting signals carry far more weight than link text alone. On-site topical relevance and well-structured supplemental content can reinforce a page’s authority—even when a keyword appears only once.
Content Structure and Supplemental Content
Keyword Relevance, Entities, and Semantically Related Terms
Today, search engines analyze semantically related terms and entities on a page to determine its topical focus. Terms conceptually unrelated to the subject of the page may be excluded entirely from results. As a result, negative SEO through keyword dilution is now a much lower risk than it once was.
SEO Risk Management: Google KPIs
Solution Smith considers using disavow when
The link is from a spammy site and is negatively affecting on-site relevance.