Negative SEO is recently one of the hottest topics of discussion in the search marketing world.  SEOs and webmasters have growing concern and fear that Google’s latest search algorithm update (Penguin), triggers the increase of demand and practice of destroying competitors’ websites through Negative SEO.  Due to this commotion, Google will be releasing the Disavow Links Option, a tool that will put an end to the dreaded malpractice of destroying online reputations for the sake of competition.

The Google Disavow Links Option

This soon-to-be-released tool will enable webmasters to disavow or disown links that are pointing to their websites by telling Google that they are spam or malicious links created for the sole purpose of bringing down their online portals.

The Disavow Links Option is Google’s answer to webmasters’ inquiry on how to solve the problem created by Negative SEO.

Feedbacks from Webmaster and SEO Communities

Though the Disavow Links Option is created to combat SEO malpractice, there are still lots of SEOs and webmasters who are not convinced that it will solve the problem.  Ryan Jones of Search Engine Journal believes that it will worsen the practice of spamming.

“This is the common argument. If I can instantly tell Google about all my bad links, what’s to stop me from going crazy with ScrapeBox, buying XRumer blasts, and setting up intensive link wheel blog networks? If I get caught, I can claim “It wasn’t me,” disavow the links, and start over.”

Ryan also expresses his concern what will happen to all those links on the pages that are being disowned.

“By disavowing your own links, you’ve also essentially outed countless other webmasters, and isn’t outing frowned upon? If so, then why is everybody demanding Google build what is essentially an automated outing form? I don’t get it.”

Barry Schwartz of SE Rountable also has some concerns when it comes to SEOs or webmasters mass outing each other using the tool.

“The only concern, as I mentioned, it really isn’t a real win/win. It is a form of mass community ‘outing’ without it being felt as outing anyone. It is one SEO pointing a finger indirectly at another. This is a sore topic for the SEO community.”

The Solution against Negative SEO

Though the disavowing links option tool may not be the perfect tool to stop the practice of Negative SEO, it could surely help website owners reclaim their link profile and discourages professionals to engage in destroying competing websites through malicious link-building.

This blog post is brought to you by www.oneseocompany.com, a Dallas SEO & Internet Marketing Company.