There’s a lingering myth in the SEO world that toxic backlinks are silently killing your rankings and that the best defense is to regularly fire up Google’s disavow tool. But that couldn’t be further from the truth - at least according to Google itself.
At a recent Search Central event in New York City, Google’s John Mueller addressed a common concern among SEOs: “What should we do about toxic backlinks if the disavow tool disappears?”
His response was eye-opening, especially for those who’ve been convinced that toxic backlinks are a regular SEO emergency.
What Even Is the Disavow Tool?
Let’s rewind for a moment. The disavow tool was introduced by Google in 2012, shortly after the launch of the infamous Penguin update - an algorithmic crackdown on link schemes, including paid links. At the time, link penalties were common, and SEOs who had once built links with abandon were suddenly scrambling to clean up their messes.
The disavow tool was designed as a last-resort solution to help sites recover from manual actions - the kind of penalty you get when Google explicitly flags your site for manipulative linking practices.
So, if you or your SEO team had purchased backlinks in bulk and got hit with a penalty, the disavow tool gave you a way to tell Google, “Okay, we’re done with this. Please don’t count these links anymore.”
It was never meant to be a daily or monthly “site hygiene” task.
The Fiction of Toxic Backlinks
The term “toxic backlinks” wasn’t coined by Google. In fact, Mueller made it clear: “We don’t have a notion of toxic backlinks internally.”
That term? It comes from SEO tool companies and backlink removal services trying to market their products. Scare tactics sell, and painting backlinks from certain sites as “toxic” created a need for pricey tools and audits.
But the reality is more nuanced.
Random backlinks from low-quality or foreign sites aren’t going to tank your rankings. Google’s algorithm has evolved to the point where it simply ignores most of the noise. In other words, those strange links from random domains you’ve never heard of? Google probably isn't even counting them.
Unless you’ve been actively buying links or involved in link schemes, there’s very little reason to worry.
When Should You Use the Disavow Tool?
Here’s the golden rule: Only use the disavow tool if you know you’ve done something wrong and got caught.
Mueller emphasized that the disavow tool is really only necessary if you’ve received a manual action from Google. If that happens, you need to clean up the offending links and then - only then - use the tool to reinforce that cleanup.
In his words:
“The disavow tool is not something that you need to do on a regular basis. It’s not a part of normal site maintenance. I would really only use that if you have a manual spam action.”
Why SEO Myths Persist
There’s a strange comfort in having a scapegoat for poor rankings. For some site owners, blaming “toxic backlinks” feels easier than accepting hard truths: maybe their content isn’t competitive, maybe their technical SEO is lacking, or maybe they haven’t built any real authority.
I’ve seen many cases where people religiously disavow links, hoping for a ranking boost that never comes. Instead of rethinking their strategy, they double down on the backlink narrative. But in every legitimate case of supposed “negative SEO” I’ve looked into, the real issue was the site itself - thin content, poor user experience, or outdated SEO practices.
Google’s link algorithms are smarter than most give them credit for. They don’t get fooled by random spammy links, and they don’t penalize sites unless there’s a pattern of manipulation.
Disavow Responsibly (If At All)
The takeaway is simple: the disavow tool isn’t a magic fix, and it’s not something every site owner needs in their toolbox. Unless you’ve been caught manipulating links or have a legitimate manual action against your site, you’re better off focusing your energy on improving your site’s content, structure, and overall value.
SEO isn’t about cleaning up “toxicity” - it’s about building something real and worthwhile that search engines naturally want to show users.
So next time you’re tempted to run a backlink audit and disavow a bunch of links “just in case,” ask yourself: Am I solving a real problem, or chasing a ghost?
