Does using the disavow tool indicate to Google that a site might be shady?

• I'm wondering if Google interprets the use of the disavow tool as an indication that a site might be guilty of shady practices. It seems that disavowing links on a site might be seen as an admission that a site's links are of questionable quality. What are your thoughts on this matter?

Answer:

Recently Google's John Mueller answered this question in a Google SEO Office Hours where he said,

No, the disavow tool is purely a technical thing ... that tells our systems to ignore these links. It's not an admission of guilt or any kind of bad thing to use a disavow tool.

He goes on to say, that it's just a way to tell Google you don't want these links to be taken into account. Google sees it as though you recognize these are problem links and the disallow is the tool you use to resolve that — it's "not a bad thing" or any kind of red flag.

You can hear John's entire answer in the video below.

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