Google’s John Mueller was asked at an office hour gathering about the undesirable results of using Google’s link rejection tool. They uploaded a rejection file and their ranking collapsed within a few days. Mueller answered various questions and then resolved the time between upload rejections and ranking changes, revealing the time required for Google to incorporate rejected content into the algorithm in the process.
Rejection tool causes rankings to collapse in a few days?
The person who asked the question asked several questions that reflect various theories as to why rejection of a document could lead to a complete breakdown of the rankings.
The most important of these ideas is whether the use of rejection itself is a negative signal, and how long it takes to eliminate the “black spots” of using the rejection tool.
This is the problem:
“Does the use of disavow tools trigger flags in the algorithm and trigger soft penalties for possible participation in link building on the site?
We used this tool to delete hundreds of spam links, and our website crashed a few days later.
Should we remove the disavow tool, and how long will it take for the website to return to normal traffic and rankings?
Or does this website have a permanent black mark for the use of rejection tools? “
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Google’s John Mueller discusses the ranking effect of Disavow Tool
No penalties for using rejection tools
Google’s John Mueller confirmed that the use of rejection tools will not be punished.
“No, there are no penalties of any kind, black flags or markings or anything related to the use of denial tools.”
He then asserted that the disavow tool is a technical tool used to indicate that publishers do not want links associated with their website in the Google system, nothing more.
He also assured publishers that rejecting links in the tool does not indicate bad behavior in the past, because many times these are just links that publishers worry about.
“It doesn’t mean that you created these links. It may be that you found them, and you are really worried that Google might get the wrong pictures for your website.”
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No need to use disavow tools for random links
Mueller next assured the publisher (as he did at many other times) that the rejection tool does not require random links for discovery.
He does recommend using the tool for links that look like the publisher might be responsible.
“However, if you see what you are saying, then I definitely did not do it. If someone at Google manually views my site, they might think I did so and use the disavow tool.”
Rejecting a file is not an admission of guilt for link building
Mueller again assured the publisher that Google does not believe that the submission of denials is an admission of past misconduct in link building.
“…It doesn’t mean you did it, or it’s not a sign, oh, you admit that you confessed that you were doing link games in the past.”
He then assured that once the website is cleaned up from manual operations, there will be no memory of past misconduct.
“From our point of view, if you have solved a problem, then you have solved that problem. For certain types of problems, things do take longer to stabilize because we have to deal with the website again. All related content, this will take some time.
But it’s not that there is any resentment in our algorithm that hinders the website. “
Will the rejection tool affect the SERP within a few days?
This is the most interesting part that I personally find. I have many people claim that the rejection tool is effective because in their actual experience, they have seen the ranking change within a few days after uploading the rejection file, which proves that the rejection tool can indeed improve search results.
Who can argue with the evidence in that kind of pudding, right?
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SEO does this, and Google ranks up, a simple correlation, right?
…right?
Yes? Do not?
This is what John Mueller said about how long it takes to process Disavow Tool data into rankings:
“Regarding this particular situation, you said that you submitted a rejection document, and then your ranking or popularity dropped, especially after a few days. I think it doesn’t matter.
Therefore, especially for rejection files, we will consider the file when we reprocess the link to your website. This is a process that takes place gradually over a period of time, and I expect it will have an impact in the process of…I don’t know…It may be three, four, five, six months… and gradually enter that direction.
Therefore, if you say that you have seen the effect within a few days and the effect is very strong, then I would assume that this effect has nothing to do with rejecting the file. …It sounds like you haven’t figured out what caused this situation. “
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Just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean it’s the answer
Just because you see something obvious jump out does not mean it is the cause of anything you are trying to understand.
Obviously just means it is easy to see, nothing more.
At the same time, the real explanation may not be easy to see.
In this case, the person made a rejection, and the ranking changed within a few days, and there was no correlation, no.
Just a coincidence.
Mueller confirmed that it takes months for the data in the rejection file to pass the algorithm to enter the rankings, and this happens gradually. Increment means small batches.
Citation
How long does it take to refuse tool work
The question is at 17:57 and the answer is at 20:50:
