When a wave of spam links hits a site, the owner is offered three ways out. Report the domains to their registrars. Upload a disavow file to Google. Or fill in the free removal form that the link network itself points to.
We tried the first two across our own sites in October 2026 and studied the third without touching it. The abuse reports did little. The disavow files may have done nothing. The removal form was part of the trap.
The Short Version
- On October 13 we reported 2,835 farm domains to two registrars, with evidence.
- On November 5 we rechecked our full list of 5,991 farm domains. 5,293 still resolved. That is 88 percent.
- We uploaded disavow files for 24 sites, then learned the links were probably hidden from Google all along.
- The removal form asks worried site owners for an email and a phone number. The link seller's own domain sends people to it.
- The step that did get a result cost one email with the evidence attached.
What Happened
The links came from a farm of several thousand throwaway domains. Our lead report covers how that farm shows its links to backlink tools and a missing page to search engines. This report is about what we did next, in the order we did it, which was the wrong order.
Exit One, Abuse Reports To Registrars
Every registrar has to publish an abuse contact and look into reports. ICANN requires it. So on October 13 we grouped the farm domains by registrar and sent two reports. One covered 982 domains. The other covered 1,853.
A third company in the chain only takes reports through a web form. The form would not load for us that day, so that report was written and never filed.
Twenty three days later we tested every domain on our list.
Our Farm Domain List, Rechecked On November 5, 2026
Source, our own lookups. The list grew after the reports were sent, so it is larger than the number reported.
We cannot say how many of the 698 went dark because of our reports. Farm domains are cheap and many are left to lapse. What we can say is that the farm was still standing.
Exit Two, The Disavow File
A disavow file asks Google to ignore links from the domains you list. On October 12 and 13 we built one per site from the spam domains each site had picked up, and uploaded 24 of them. The files held between 410 and 1,203 domains each. After a second wave we merged and uploaded again on October 17. Our largest file grew to 1,838 domains.
Then we ran the test we should have run first. The farm pages returned a 404 to anything calling itself a search engine. If Google never saw the links, there was nothing for it to ignore.
Google says as much in plain words. Its help page says most sites will not need the tool, and that it is meant for sites with a manual action for unnatural links or a real risk of one. We had neither.
If you do use it, three things caught us out.
- A new upload replaces the old list. It does not add to it. Download the current file and merge before you upload.
- The tool does not accept Domain properties. We had to add a URL prefix property for each site first.
- Keep the file tight. We listed obvious spam only. Any link we had earned or built stayed off the list.
Exit Three, The Free Removal Form
We did not use this one, and here is why.
While we were tracing the farm, the domain of a link seller tied to it began sending visitors to a different site. That site offered free removal of unwanted links. Its form asked for the site owner's email and phone number.
Think about who fills in that form. It is the owner of a real business who has just seen hundreds of ugly links in a report and is worried enough to act. That is a list of buyers. A few weeks later the same seller's domain sent visitors to a chat number, and the removal site showed a maintenance page.
We have the redirect records. We are describing the pattern and not naming the companies until that evidence has been reviewed.
How To Spot The Trap
- The removal offer is linked from the same pages or the same sellers as the spam links.
- It is free, and it wants a phone number.
- The seller's own domain is the one that sends you there.
What To Do About It
- Test what Google sees first. Check the Links report in Search Console for the spam domains. Ten minutes here would have saved us two days.
- Send evidence to the backlink tool. This was the step that worked. We wrote to four backlink data companies. One of them now returns zero links to our agency site from the first eight farm domains.
- Disavow only with a reason. A manual action, or links you can see in Search Console that you did not earn and cannot get removed.
- Report to registrars if you have the hours. It builds a record. Do not expect the farm to fall.
- Never give your phone number to a removal service you found through the spam.
What We Got Wrong
The order. We reported and disavowed for two days, then tested. Test first.
We also wrote in our first letters that our sites were under attack. The farm lists nearly every .com in the alphabet. Nobody had aimed at us, and we have since corrected that in writing.
Sources
- Our own abuse reports of October 13, 2026, our disavow uploads of October 12, 13 and 17, 2026, and our domain recheck of November 5, 2026.
- ICANN, Registrar abuse contact and duty to investigate reports of abuse.
- Search Console Help, Disavow links to your site.
- Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search, the section on link spam.