Google's John Mueller Says Disavow Tool Does Have Effects but Has Its Place and Time
Google Search Advocate John Mueller clarified on September 2, 2026, that the disavow links tool in Google Search Console "does have effects" and "has its place & time," responding to a site owner who reported traffic drops after using the tool.
What was announced
In a Reddit discussion in the r/SEO community, Mueller addressed concerns about the disavow tool's impact on search rankings. A site owner reported that their website dropped in search results after adding links to the disavow file, prompting Mueller's response.
"There's a lot of hate on the disavow tool here - but it has its place & time, it does have effects," Mueller wrote.
He clarified that "disavowing a handful of links is not going to make your site drop out of search," suggesting that other factors were likely responsible for the reported traffic decline.
What changed
This statement does not represent a policy change or new feature. Rather, it provides clarity on Google's position regarding the disavow tool's functionality and appropriate use cases.
The disavow links tool allows site owners to tell Google which backlinks to ignore when assessing their site. Google's official documentation states that "in most cases, Google can assess which links to trust without additional guidance, so most sites will not need to use this tool."
Details and guidance
Mueller provided specific recommendations for site owners experiencing ranking issues after using the disavow tool:
- Review the disavow file: Ensure it contains only the links you genuinely want to disavow. The file "might be empty, or might not be empty" depending on your situation.
- Investigate other potential causes: Mueller suggested looking at broader factors that could affect rankings:
- Recent spam updates that may have impacted the site
- Technical issues, particularly "broad & big technical issues (not 'oops, wrong canonical' but more like 'oops, blocked the whole site')"
- Set realistic expectations: For issues related to algorithmic changes, Mueller noted that "fixing issues around bigger algorithmic changes can take quite some time - sometimes many months - until you see the effects."
Context
Google's position on the disavow tool has evolved over time. The company has previously stated that most sites don't need to use the tool and that disavowing links is often unnecessary. Google and Bing have both indicated they may eventually remove disavow tools as their algorithms become better at automatically identifying and ignoring manipulative links.
The tool remains available in Google Search Console for site owners dealing with manual actions for unnatural links or those who believe they're at risk of such actions due to paid links or other link schemes that violate Google's spam policies.
What has not been confirmed
Mueller did not provide specific details about:
- The timeline for when disavowed links are fully processed by Google's systems
- Whether Google plans to deprecate or remove the disavow tool in the near future
- Specific thresholds for when the disavow tool becomes necessary versus when Google's algorithms handle link evaluation automatically
Sources
- Google Search Console Help: Disavow links to your site
- Google Search Central: Spam policies for Google web search
- John Mueller, Google Search Advocate, public statement on Reddit r/SEO community, September 2, 2026
