Bing has announced that it will phase out its disavow links tool in Bing Webmaster Tools starting from October 2023. The decision comes as the company believes that the tool is no longer necessary. Fabrice Canel, Principal Program Manager for Webmaster Tools stated, “Times have changed, and so has our technology.”
He emphasized that Bing's advanced artificial intelligence capabilities now allow it to discern the context and intent of links, as well as gauge the credibility of their sources. This advancement enables Bing to distinguish between natural and unnatural links, disregarding the latter without impacting the former.
Historical Context
The disavow links tool was launched by Bing in June 2012. Its primary function was to allow webmasters to communicate which inbound links they wished Bing to exclude when evaluating their site's quality and relevance. This was particularly useful in countering negative SEO attacks, where malicious entities would generate or purchase low-quality or spammy links directed at their competitors' websites to damage their rankings.
Canel noted that the tool was a “way for webmasters to tell us which inbound links they did not want us to consider.” However, with the advancements in Bing's technology, webmasters no longer need to allocate time and resources to audit and disavow links directed at their sites.
Continued Support and Recommendations
While the disavow tool is being retired, Bing Webmaster Tools' backlink report will remain available. This report showcases inbound link data for user sites and others. Bing also advises webmasters to remain vigilant and adhere to the guidelines provided in the “Abuse section” and “Things to avoid” segment of Bing Webmaster Tools Webmaster Guidelines. Engaging in practices like Link Schemes, Link Buying, and Link Spamming could result in a site being removed from the Bing index.
This week, Microsoft updated Bing Webmaster Tools to add Bing Chat search data. There has been concerns over how long Microsoft was taking to add Bing Chat data. The revamped Bing Webmaster Tools Performance Report now amalgamates metrics from web search and chat, presenting them on a singular dashboard. This integration offers users a holistic view of their website's clicks, impressions, and engagement on Bing.
