Google's John Mueller again spoke about the disavow link file. This time he said that while "most sites don't need it, he added but "that's not all sites." Some sites may indeed need to disavow links.
John said on Bluesky, "If you're conflicted and just want to be sure, it's totally fine to set up & use disavow files. If you notice that the bulk of the problems are from a few TLDs, you can also disavow the whole TLD." This was in response to someone who was unsure if they should disavow.
The SEO, Jacques Bouchard, asked, "I know you're not a fan of disavow files, but bear with me. A client is getting about 50 links/week redirecting to this kind of page a week. Should I include them in a disavow file, or nah? They technically don't link to the site."
John said, if you are conflicted - go for it.
Here is John's response:
If you're conflicted and just want to be sure, it's totally fine to set up & use disavow files. If you notice that the bulk of the problems are from a few TLDs, you can also disavow the whole TLD. The disavow file is a tool, not a religion :-). Most sites don't need it, but that's not all sites.
If you're conflicted and just want to be sure, it's totally fine to set up & use disavow files. If you notice that the bulk of the problems are from a few TLDs, you can also disavow the whole TLD. The disavow file is a tool, not a religion :-). Most sites don't need it, but that's not all sites.
— John Mueller (@johnmu.com) March 6, 2026 at 1:56 AM
As a reminder, John Mueller of Google often says that disavowing links is a waste of time. Heck, like Bing, Google may remove the disavow tool at some point. In fact, Google said the disavow tools hurts many more sites than it helps and has doubled down on not using it.
Forum discussion at Bluesky.
