Pros and Cons of Google’s Disavow Tool

Recently, Google released the new Disavow Links tool which could either hurt or benefit desperate website owners who were negatively affected by the Google Penguin update, an update which, in an effort to end web spam, discounts websites based on the amount of “bad links” the website has or receives.

The Disavow tool would negatively impacted web users to redeem their site by eliminating bad links, but if used improperly, they could Disavow the wrong links entirely and put their page into an even worse position. Jason Hartman believes in evaluating opportunities closely, so here are some of the pros and cons of the new tool.

Pro: Recovery from the Penguin Update

One obvious pro is that websites or businesses who have been seriously burdened by bad or spammy links now have the option to get rid of them to effectively recover from the Penguin update. The Google Link Disavow tool can delete these negative links, to bring a negatively influenced site back up in the rankings.

Pro: Possibility for Improved SEO Success

This is good news for businesses and websites who haven’t done anything to deserve penalties. In some cases, website owners actually become victim to bad SEO, where other website owners (bad or spammy websites) purposely link to sites to cause negative SEO. By Disavowing these negative links, there’s a possibility for improved SEO success.

Pro: Get Rid of Low Quality Links

If a web owner simply can’t seem to shake the high amount of low quality links which may be penalizing the site, he may use the Disavow tool as a means of redemption.

Con: Crowd Sourcing Bad Link Detection

There’s a theory going around the net claiming Google’s new Disavow Link tool could be used as a way to crowd source spam detection. This essentially follows the idea that if enough website owners try to Disavow the same site, Google could use it as a means for spam detection in a number of ways, with no cost at all to the company. However, this could hurt the web more than clean it up.

Con: Spamming May Become Easier

Another theory going around the Twittersphere claims the Disavow Links tool could actually make it easier to build spammy links. The spammer would simply have to go through a process of building the bad links, only to Disavow them upon getting caught. However, this may not be a realistic scenario because of the time Google takes to clean up the links.

Con: It Takes Time

Once a website owner goes through the Disavowing process, it could be weeks before the website experiences any improvement. Though it can be a helpful tool in certain circumstances, a person shouldn’t expect to experience any immediate results, even if the request is urgent.

What are your thoughts on the Disavow Tool? Will it help or hurt SEO practices as we know them? Feel free to tell us in the comments. (Top Image: Flickr | Brionv)

The Speaking of Wealth Team