In October 2023, Bing Webmaster Tools intends to discontinue the disavow links functionality and its corresponding API.
This decision, which could affect SEO experts and Web professionals who rely on the disavow feature, is part of Bing’s initiative to streamline its services and enhance the overall user experience.
What Does the Disavow Links Feature Do?
Introduced in 2012, the disavow links feature has for long been used by website owners to specify which inbound links Bing should disregard when assessing their websites’ quality and relevance.
This functionality played a vital role in combating instances of negative SEO attacks, in which malicious actors could generate or purchase spammy or low-quality backlinks to undermine a competitor’s search engine ranking.
Bing to Use AI to Identify Spammy Links
In their recent announcement, Bing stated that improvements in their artificial intelligence technology have rendered the manual disavowal of links unnecessary.
According to Bing, their upgraded search algorithms are now able to understand the “context and intent” of links, enabling them to differentiate between legitimate and questionable or unreliable links.
According to Fabrice Canel, times have changed, and so has their technology. This is what Canel had to say, “We have invested heavily in developing and improving our artificial intelligence capabilities, which enables us to better understand the context and intent of links, as well as the trustworthiness and authority of their sources. We can now differentiate between natural and unnatural links, and we can ignore or discount the latter without affecting the former.”
This implies that website owners can now depend on Bing’s AI to automatically identify and disregard low-quality links, eliminating the need for the traditional, resource-intensive process of manual link auditing.
Website Owners Urged to Embrace and Abide by Bing’s Guidelines
Bing has strongly advised marketing professionals and website owners to remain attentive to their guidelines pertaining to link schemes, the purchase of links, as well as link spamming. Failure to adhere to these guidelines could lead to the removal of a website from Bing’s search index.
However, the organization reiterated its dedication to providing website owners with valuable insights through its backlink report feature, offering them a glimpse into their link profiles. According to Fabrice Canel, the Bing Webmaster Tools backlink report will also display inbound links data for any other website.
Fabrice Canel, the Principal Program Manager at Bing Webmaster Tools, wrapped up the announcement by expressing gratitude for the ongoing support from users. He encouraged them to share their feedback and inquiries through Bing’s help center or support channels.
You can now put an end to the practice of disavowing links for Bing Search, and it’s also possible to do the same for Google Search. Google has been downplaying the importance of disavowing links for some time. So, if you have more pressing tasks, such as generating valuable new content, it’s advisable to focus on those rather than searching for problematic links.
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