Readers who bought low-quality guest posts and links now have a clear framework for cleaning up those signals without losing more search visibility. Google’s disavow tool still works, but only in narrow cases, and a Reddit reply this week laid out exactly when it applies, what it does, and what to check first when rankings suddenly slip.
What Google actually said about the disavow tool
On Reddit, a Google search relations contributor fielded a complaint from a site owner who said rankings dropped after submitting a disavow file. The reply pushed back on the assumption that the disavow tool is useless. The contributor wrote that the tool has its place and time, and that it does have effects. The same reply also stressed that disavowing a handful of links is not going to make a site drop out of search, which is a common fear among site owners who have never submitted a file.
Why the case in question was specific
The thread the reply addressed was about a site that had been buying guest posts and links from freelance marketplaces. That context matters because the recommendation that followed was tailored to a site with a known history of spammy link building, not to the average publisher. A site with no link spam history would not normally need a disavow file at all, and the reply made that distinction clear by tying the advice to the situation described.
What Google recommended in this thread
The contributor’s practical advice came in two parts. First, fix the disavow file so it reflects what the site really needs, which might be an empty file or a much shorter list. Second, look for other reasons the rankings may have changed. Two specific causes were called out.
- A spam update hit around the same time. Broader algorithmic changes can take many months to settle, so a site may not see recovery until the next refresh works through the signals.
- Major technical issues. Not a small misconfiguration like a wrong canonical tag, but a serious problem such as accidentally blocking the whole site from crawling.
The order is deliberate: clean the disavow file first, then rule out bigger technical and algorithmic causes before assuming the disavow itself is to blame.
When the disavow tool is the right move
For years, Google has said most sites do not need to disavow anything and that submitting a disavow file is often a waste of time. Google has described the disavow tool as hurting more sites than it helps, which is why Google has told webmasters repeatedly to leave it alone unless there is a clear reason to act.
Google has described the narrow cases where the tool is still useful.
- Manual actions. If Google has issued a manual action for unnatural links, the disavow file is part of the reconsideration process.
- Known link spam campaigns. When a site is the target of a negative SEO attack or has been paid for links it cannot get removed, a disavow file is a documented way to tell Google to ignore those signals.
- Site migrations with toxic link history. When a domain with a bad backlink profile is moved or merged, a disavow file can carry the cleanup over.
If none of those situations apply, the safer path is to leave the file empty, build better links, and let the algorithmic systems do the work.
How to tell if a drop is really the disavow file
Before changing a disavow file in response to a traffic drop, it is worth checking the timing against three things: known Google spam updates, large-scale technical changes, and any crawl or indexing shifts in Search Console. A drop that lines up with a spam update is far more likely to be algorithmic than a reaction to a handful of disavowed domains, and recovery from a broad spam update can take many months rather than days.
For sites that do need a file, the format and the list itself matter. A disavow file is a plain text file submitted through Google Search Console, with one URL or one domain per line. The page-level syntax is url:https://example.com/spam-page, and whole domains are submitted as domain:example.com. Misformatted files, accidental entries for high-quality domains, and overbroad submissions are common ways the tool does more harm than good.
The bigger picture for site owners
The takeaway is not that the disavow tool is back in fashion. The advice from Google has been consistent: most sites should not use it, and the tool has hurt more sites than it has helped. The change in tone this week is a reminder that the tool still functions for the small set of cases Google has always described, and that a sudden ranking drop after submitting a file is more often a coincidence with a spam update or a technical regression than a direct cause.
FAQ
Does the Google disavow tool still work in 2026?
Yes. Google has confirmed that the disavow tool does have effects, but only in specific cases such as manual actions, known link spam, or toxic link history tied to a migration. Most sites do not need to submit a disavow file at all.
Will disavowing a few links make a site disappear from Google search?
No. Google’s reply this week made clear that disavowing a handful of links is not going to make a site drop out of search. A drop that lines up with a disavow submission is more often tied to a spam update or a technical issue than to the disavow itself.
What should a site owner do if rankings drop after submitting a disavow file?
Clean up the disavow file so it only contains the domains or URLs the site genuinely needs to exclude, which can mean an empty file. Then check for a spam update around the same date and rule out large technical issues, such as accidentally blocking the whole site, before assuming the disavow is the cause.
Try the Search Console analytics view
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