Intro
John Mueller from Google recently mentioned on Twitter that the company might phase out its disavow link tool in the future. This speculation follows Bing's removal of a similar tool from its Webmaster Tools in September 2023, hinting that Google might do the same with its Search Console tool.
During a discussion with Rowan Collins, John was asked whether there were any plans to discontinue the disavow tool in Search Console, or if it remained primarily as a remedy for manual penalties. He responded, "At some point, I'm sure we'll remove it."
This conversation arose in a broader discussion about the appropriate uses of the disavow link tool and its relevance. John emphasized that the tool should only be used in specific cases, such as when a manual action for link-spam is received or anticipated. He noted that most questionable links are now simply ignored by Google, making the tool rarely necessary.
Furthermore, John advised against regular use of the disavow tool based on reports of "toxic links" from SEO tools, stating that such practices are outdated and misleading. Google has increasingly advised against the use of the disavow link tool, suggesting that it often does more harm than good.
For more details, see John Mueller's comments on Twitter:
