A backlink is a link from one website to a page on another. Google uses links both to discover new pages and as a signal of relevance: a page other sites link to, in context, is more likely to be treated as a source worth ranking.
One detail from the 2024 Google API leak changes how to think about link counts. In his analysis of the leak, Mike King at iPullRank connects Google’s Panda patent to a modification factor calculated as the number of independent linking sites divided by the number of “reference queries,” meaning searches that refer to the site. Links don’t work in isolation. They’re weighed against how often people search for you, and King’s takeaway is to earn more link diversity while driving more successful clicks from a broader set of searches.
What makes a backlink count
| Factor | What Google appears to look at |
|---|---|
| Linking page quality | The leak shows each link graded by the index tier of the page it comes from. Links from top-tier pages count most, and fresh pages are treated as high quality. |
| Homepage trust | A separate attribute records whether the linking site’s homepage is not trusted, partially trusted or fully trusted. |
| Topical match | An Anchor Mismatch demotion reduces links whose text doesn’t match the site they point to. |
| Context | Google’s link guidance says the words before and after a link matter. |
| Link attribute | Links marked nofollow, sponsored or ugc tell Google not to treat them as an endorsement. |
The leak shows which of these signals exist, not how much each one weighs. King is explicit about that limit. Read the table as a list of things Google records, not a scoring formula.
Follow, nofollow, sponsored and ugc
A standard link passes ranking signals. Three attributes change that. Google asks sites to use rel="sponsored" for paid links, rel="ugc" for links users add in comments or forums, and rel="nofollow" for sources the site doesn’t vouch for. Google’s spam policies treat paid links as a normal part of advertising, provided they carry one of these attributes. A paid link without one is link spam.
For B2B sites, the practical effect: sponsorships, paid directory listings and event partner pages are fine to buy for visibility and referral traffic. Just don’t expect them to move rankings, and don’t ask the host to remove the attribute.
Redirects and lost links
Backlinks point to URLs, so every URL change puts them at risk. King notes that Google keeps a history of changes for each URL, and that redirecting a page to an unrelated target is one reason link value fails to carry over. During a site migration, redirect each old URL to the closest equivalent new page. Sending everything to the homepage throws away the relevance those links carried.
A Canadian proptech platform I moved to a new domain grew search impressions 45.3% in the four months after the migration. That’s the outcome a careful redirect map protects, and the one a lazy one gives away.
Checking your backlinks
Google Search Console’s Links report shows your top linking sites, your most-linked pages and the most common link text. Third-party tools such as Ahrefs and Semrush build their own link indexes and scores. They’re useful for spotting trends and studying competitors, but they approximate Google’s view rather than reflect it. King’s conclusion after reviewing the leak was that much of Google’s link analysis isn’t captured by the industry’s link indexes.
Disavow files
Google’s disavow tool lets you ask it to ignore specific links. King found no mention of disavow anywhere in the leaked API documentation. His long-held assumption is that disavow data trains Google’s spam classifiers rather than feeding rankings directly. In my view, disavow belongs in a narrow set of cases: a manual action for unnatural links, or a site with a clear history of bought links. Disavowing every low-quality link a tool flags is wasted effort.
Common mistakes
- Judging a link by a third-party authority score alone, without checking whether the linking page is on topic.
- Chasing link volume while nobody searches for the brand. Links and search demand work together.
- Redirecting old URLs to the homepage during a migration.
- Paying for links without a sponsored or nofollow attribute.
- Disavowing links in bulk because a tool marked them as “toxic.”
Related terms
Anchor text · B2B link building · Domain authority · Redirect chain · Internal linking
