08/25/2026
Do bad backlinks give your website โbad signalsโ?
Not necessarily.
Googleโs John Mueller clarified that if a site links out in ways that arenโt helpful or align with spam policies, Google may simply ignore those outbound links.
Thatโs different from passing a negative signal.
The takeaway for SEOs:
๐น Donโt obsess over โtoxic linksโ
๐น Focus on relevant, useful links
๐น Evaluate link quality, context, and relevance
๐น Build links that actually help users
A link being ignored is not the same as a link hurting you.
SEO is less about collecting linksโand more about earning the right ones.
Read the full Search Engine Journal article
Whatโs your take: Do SEOs worry too much about โtoxicโ backlinks?