What happens if you cut the cord between the links, i.e. page A links to page B. If either page A or page B drop out of the Google index, that link is no longer counted. Basic stuff but John Mueller of Google put it simply this way on Twitter "links are between indexed URLs, so if one side is gone, the link is ignored."
Martin MacDonald highlighted the tweet:
1) "Links are between indexed URLs, so if one side is gone, the link is ignored."
— Martin MacDonald (@searchmartin) November 19, 2019
2) "if it's robotted, its still indexed" https://t.co/V3EcmpaVry
If you cut the cord, the two are no longer connected.
The thread this tweet is part of is pretty fun and interesting to read, so click through and consume it all.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
