# Toxic backlinks

Category: [Link Building & Off-Page](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/link-building-off-page/) › [Link spam & risks](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/link-building-off-page/link-spam-risks/)

**Toxic backlinks** is a term from SEO tools for incoming links judged harmful to a site, for example links from spam sites or link networks. Google's documentation does not use the word. It refers to "spammy, artificial, or low-quality links".

## How toxicity is scored

Tools such as Semrush or SE Ranking calculate a score from several signals. The score is the vendor's estimate and does not replace a manual review of the linking pages.

## When to use the disavow tool

Google says to disavow only if a considerable number of such links point to your site and they have caused a manual action or likely will. Google calls it an advanced feature that can harm performance if used incorrectly. After an upload it can take a few weeks until Google takes the list into account.

## Example

A disavow file is a text file with one URL or domain per line. Comments start with `#`, and a domain is written with the `domain:` prefix.

```
# spam network, no reply to removal request on 12 Sep
domain:spam-links.example
https://blog.example/comment-page-17
```

## Related terms

- [Disavow links](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/disavow-links/index.md)
- [Backlink](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/backlink/index.md)
- [Link profile](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/link-profile/index.md)
- [Link spam](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/link-spam/index.md)
- [Manual action](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/manual-action/index.md)
- [Lost backlinks](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/lost-backlinks/index.md)

## Sources

- [Disavow links to your site – Search Console Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2648487)
- [Spam policies for Google web search – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies)

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Last updated: October 7, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/toxic-backlinks/