<b>One spammy site linking to you is not a guilt-by-association problem</b>

<b>One spammy site linking to you is not a guilt-by-association problem</b>

<b>The myth:</b> if a known link farm links to you, Google assumes you're in the network.

<b>Reality:</b> Google can't penalize you for inbound links you didn't place, or competitors would weaponize that instantly. Inbound links from bad neighborhoods are simply discounted. The "bad neighborhood" contagion model applies to <i>outbound</i> links you control, not random inbound ones.

<i>Actually,</i> the distinction matters: a page that links out to 200 casino spam sites signals something about itself. A page that receives one link from a spam farm signals nothing about the recipient.

The guilt-by-association scare blurs that line because fear of association sells cleanup retainers.

Reality check: you're responsible for who you link to, not for who links to you.